Defensive Gun Use Debunks Gun Control Ignorance
Amy Swearer /
It’s increasingly clear that gun control activism thrives on ignorance about the nature of crime and the importance of the Second Amendment. Unfortunately, far too many Americans continue to buy hook, line, and sinker into activists’ mischaracterizations of reality.
Take, for example, one recent survey that discovered a shocking number of American voters erroneously believe that school shootings cause more gun deaths every year than gang violence.
In reality, even when using the broadest possible definition of “school shooting,” such events are far too rare to plausibly constitute a leading cause of gun deaths. Gang-related gun deaths outpace school shooting deaths by several orders of magnitude.
It’s just that gun control activists are content with misleading Americans about the nature of criminal gun violence.
At the same time, they intentionally downplay the protective function of the Second Amendment, dismissing lawful defensive gun use as uncommon and promoting baseless assertions that gun owners are more likely to have their guns turned against them by criminals than they are to successfully stop a violent attack.
That’s because the truth about defensive gun use undermines their demands for more restrictions on lawful gun ownership.
Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, according to the most recent report on the subject by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses occur in the United States every year.
For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read accounts from past months and years here.)
The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use during crimes that we found in November. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database.
- Nov. 2, Hialeah, Florida: Police said a mechanic for a mobile tire-repair company fatally shot an angry customer who charged at him with a machete during a call for service. Police determined that the mechanic’s actions constituted justified self-defense.
- Nov. 4, Warren, Michigan: A woman fatally shot her ex-boyfriend—who police said had “an extensive domestic violence history”—after he forced his way into her home and chased her.
- Nov. 7, Glen Burnie, Maryland: During a road rage incident, an erratic driver began tailgating a motorcyclist before pulling alongside him and intentionally forcing him off the road, police said. Next, the driver pulled over, got out, and approached the motorcyclist while wielding a hammer. Police said the motorcyclist, who had a valid concealed carry permit, drew his gun and shot his assailant, killing him.
- Nov. 8, DeSoto, Texas: Police said an armed man followed a woman home from a Taco Bell and tried to force his way into her residence through the garage. The woman shot the man several times in the face and chest; he was hospitalized in critical condition. The man, whom she didn’t know, was charged with felony burglary.
- Nov. 11, Jackson, Mississippi: A man selling items via Facebook Marketplace arranged to meet in a store’s parking lot with two people who responded to his ad, police said. One “buyer,” however, tried to rob the seller at gunpoint. The victim, also armed, exchanged gunfire with his assailant. He wounded the assailant despite sustaining a gunshot wound himself. Police arrested the man and his accomplice; both face criminal charges.
- Nov. 16, Urbana, Illinois: Police said a driver with a concealed carry permit used his lawfully possessed firearm to defend himself during a road rage incident. The driver shot and wounded one of two occupants of another vehicle who followed him into a parking lot and approached his car in a threatening manner. One carried a baseball bat, police said; the other had a hand under his shirt and appeared to be reaching for a weapon.
- Nov. 21, Charleston, South Carolina: In an incident of domestic violence, police said, a man shot and wounded a woman who is the mother of one of his children. She had her own gun and returned fire, killing her assailant.
- Nov. 22, Chicago: A food vendor with a concealed carry permit exchanged gunfire with an armed robber, killing him, police said. The permit holder sustained a gunshot wound to his arm, but was hospitalized in good condition.
- Nov. 24, Shepherdsville, Kentucky: Police said two men drove to the home of an individual with whom they had a dispute regarding a car sale earlier in the year. The men both opened fire on the house, fatally striking the victim and endangering the lives of his brother and sister-in-law. The brother returned fire until the two gunmen fled, successfully defending himself and his wife. Police arrested two suspects who are charged with murder, attempted murder, and wanton endangerment.
- Nov. 25, Rockford, Illinois: An elderly good Samaritan intervened to protect a woman who was being assaulted in a domestic violence incident, shooting and wounding her attacker, police said. The wounded assailant is charged with aggravated assault and battery that causes bodily harm.
- Nov. 30, Sacramento, California: Police said a man was at home with his family when he confronted a would-be burglar trying to smash windows to get inside. When the intruder refused to stop despite multiple warnings, the resident shot at him, injuring his hand and causing him to flee. Police said they arrested the intruder after an hourlong car chase involving a stolen vehicle.
If we want to be serious about public safety, we need to accurately understand the nature of gun violence, as well as the important role that the right to keep and bear arms plays in helping ordinary citizens protect themselves and others from violent crime.
Otherwise, it’s far too easy to be persuaded that lawful gun owners are the problem instead of part of the solution.