NCJ Number
162693
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 86 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1995) Pages: 150-187
Date Published
1995
Length
38 pages
Annotation
The use of guns in self-defense was examined by means of an analysis of previous research on the topic and a survey designed to correct all of the known correctable or avoidable flaws noted by critics of previous surveys.
Abstract
The survey was an anonymous random-digit-dialed telephone survey that reached a nationally representative sample of adults age 18 years of age and over in the lower 48 States and living in households with telephones. The results of this survey, as well as an analysis of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), indicate that defensive gun use is very common in the United States and that it is probably substantially more common than criminal gun use. Little reason exists to continue accepting the NCVS data as even approximately valid. The gross inconsistencies between the NCVS and all other sources of information make it reasonable to suppose that all but a handful of NCVS victims who had used a gun for protection in the reported incidents refrained from mentioning this gun use. Findings indicated that regulatory measures that effectively reduce gun availability among the noncriminal majority also would reduce defensive gun uses that would otherwise have saved lives, prevented injuries, thwarted rape attempts, driven off burglars, and helped victims retain their property. Tables and footnotes