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TheDisciplinarian says
I've seen more then a few Instances where a Gun can Stop
And or minimise bad activitiesneven without discharging the gun
Yet..
However, anecdotes are NOT statistics.
* Guns are not used millions of times each year in self-defense
* Most purported self-defense gun uses are gun uses in escalating arguments, and are both socially undesirable and illegal
* Firearms are used far more often to intimidate than in self-defense
* Criminals who are shot are typically the victims of crime
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/
Here's a survey of polling
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/
We analyzed data from two national random-digit-dial surveys conducted under the auspices of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Criminal court judges who read the self-reported accounts of the purported self-defense gun use rated a majority as being illegal, even assuming that the respondent had a permit to own and to carry a gun, and that the respondent had described the event honestly from his own perspective.
What they're saying, in not so many words, is that guns are often used to intimidate. The guy who draws the gun may think he's preventing a crime. But putting another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm is the crime of assault (battery is when you make contact with the other person). So they're running these stories by judges, who say that many reported "defensive" gun uses are actually the offensive crime of assault, unknown to the gun user.
They also say "8. Criminals who are shot are typically the victims of crime; 9-10. Few criminals are shot by decent law-abiding citizens." i.e. they say it's almost impossible to find a criminal with a gun wound who was shot by a law abiding citizen.
And finally,
Victims use guns in less than 1% of contact crimes, and women never use guns to protect themselves against sexual assault (in more than 300 cases). Victims using a gun were no less likely to be injured after taking protective action than victims using other forms of protective action. Compared to other protective actions, the National Crime Victimization Surveys provide little evidence that self-defense gun use is uniquely beneficial in reducing the likelihood of injury or property loss.
