Good news from the U.S. about guns: they save lives

July 31, 2012

Free Market Foundation

While the U.S. national news media cover every school shooting, when was the last time you head about a citizen saving a life with a gun? Since, according to national surveys, guns are used defensively about two million times a year five times more often than they are used to commit crimes there are plenty of examples, says researcher John R. Lott Jr.

In 98 percent of all cases, simply brandishing a gun is sufficient to stop a crime. Here are some of the 20 defensive gun use stories Lott found reported locally in a single week in March:

By firing one rifle shot, a 19-year old Little Rock, Arkansas man defended himself against three armed men threatening to assault him.

A man in Detroit, Michigan with a concealed carry handgun permit fired shots that forced a mentally disturbed man who was firing at people in passing cars to run away.

A West Palm Beach, Florida man who had been beaten during a home robbery just two days earlier began carrying a handgun in his pocket and was able to shoot and wound another robber who attacked him.

A Grand Junction, Colorado man who was feeding three hitchhikers in his home grabbed a gun fortunately with no trigger lock after they began stabbing him with kitchen knives, shooting one of the attackers.

And in Salt Lake City, Utah, two robbers began shooting as soon as they entered a pawnshop, but were met with return fire from the owner and his son, who wounded one.

Source: John R. Lott Jr. (Yale University Law School), Tell About When Guns Save Lives, Dallas Morning News, April 10, 2001.

For text http://www.dallasnews.com/editorial/viewpoints/

For Guns & Self Defense http://www.ncpa.org/pi/crime/crime51.html