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Relative Frequency of Offensive and Defensive Gun Uses: Results from a National Survey

NCJ Number
187016
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: Fall 2000 Pages: 257-272
Author(s)
David Hemenway; Deborah Azrael
Editor(s)
Roland D. Maiuro Ph.D.
Date Published
2000
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article provides results from a national survey on the relative frequency of offensive (frighten, intimidate, and injure) versus defensive (prevent and protect against crime) gun use in the United States.
Abstract
Some controversy exists about the relative frequency of criminal and self-defense gun use in the United States. Using data from a national random-digit-dial telephone survey of over 1,900 adults conducted in 1996, results showed that criminal gun use is far more common than self-defense gun use. This result is consistent with findings from other private surveys and the National Crime Victimization Surveys. In this survey, all reported cases of criminal gun use and many cases of self-defense gun use appear to be socially undesirable. Respondents were representative of the Nation in terms of age and race. However, respondents were more likely to be female (58 percent) and less likely to be of very low income. There are many instances of gun use, often for intimidation, that are not reported to the police and may not appear in official crime statistics. The results suggest that there are many uses of guns against humans that do not make official statistics, such as crime reports, emergency room logs, or death certificates. When determining the benefits and costs of various measures to increase or reduce the availability of and access to guns, it is important to consider the effect not only on reported crime, suicide, and accidental injury, but also on these more hidden gun uses. Tables and references