Defensive firearm use is far less common than exposure to gun violence

(Press-News.org) Those with access to firearms rarely use their weapon to defend themselves, and instead are far more likely to be exposed to gun violence in other ways, according to a Rutgers Health study.  

An overwhelming majority of firearm users, or about 92%, indicated they never have used their weapons to defend themselves, with less than 1% say they did in the previous year, a new study by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center found.

“Adults with firearm access are far more likely to be exposed to gun violence than they are to defend themselves with their firearms,” said Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers and lead author of the study. “It’s not that defensive gun use never happens, but the notion that firearm owners are routinely saving their own lives or those of their loved ones by using a firearm in self-defense simply is not backed up by the data. When we consider policies, we need to more heavily weigh the harms that frequently occur, not the instances of defense that rarely happen.”

The study, which appears in JAMA Network Open, collected data from a nationally representative sample of 8,009 adults in May 2024 and examined how frequently the 3,000 with firearm access had engaged in defensive gun use and been exposed to gun violence, both across their entire lives and within the past year.

More than one-third (34.4%) said they had known someone who had died by firearm suicide. In the past year, 32.7% said they had heard gunshots in their neighborhood. Although only 2.1% of the sample indicated they had been shot, 59.5% of all instances of defensive gun use during which an individual shot at a perceived threat occurred among those who had previously been shot themselves.

The researchers also examined which individuals were most likely to have engaged in defensive gun use in their lifetimes. Those with previous exposure to gun violence, who carry firearms more frequently and who tend to store firearms loaded and unlocked were more likely to indicate they had engaged in at least one form of defensive gun use.

“If individuals themselves have experienced gun violence or they more frequently have quick and ready access to their firearms, they may be more prone to perceiving threats and responding through the use of their firearm,” Anestis said. “It is important to note that, just because someone perceives someone else as a threat does not mean they were one and, if someone truly is a threat, that does not always mean a firearm is necessary for defense. When defensive gun use occurs, we should not necessarily conclude that the result was a life saved that otherwise would have been lost.”

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