Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I looked at the stats you referred me to and noticed that they refer to “Justifiable Homicide.” That would be where someone used a firearm for self defense that resulted in a death. Interesting stats, but they only address the unfortunate instance where a defensive gun use results in a death.

In the vast majority of cases of using firearms for self-defense the gun is not even fired, meaning that nobody is killed, thus those firearms uses do not show in the FBI justifiable homicide statistics. If the gun is fired and the attacker is shot, but does not die, those instances are also not included in your FBI statistics.

FBI statistics you linked to indicate that 170 justifiable firearms homicides were committed by private citizens in 2004 (434 is the number for law enforcement firearms justifiable homicides). The U.S. Department of Justice Study done by Cook and Ludwig in 1997 under the Clinton Administration found that a minimum of approximately 1.5 million defensive gun uses occured each year. http://www.pulpless.com/gunclock/165476.pdf

The FBI statistics you quoted indicate 9,326 firearms murders a that year. Clinton Admin stats indicate in 1997 there were 1.5 million defensive gun uses which means that guns are used approximately 160.84 times more often in self-defense than in murder. And, of the 1.5 million defensive gun uses, only .011% result in a justifiable homicide. Guns are used as defense in situations of home invasion, rape, robbery, etc.

So, not only are guns frequently used for fending off crime, victims only end up killing the attacker .011% of the time.

The purpose of having a gun for defense is not to kill anyone, it’s for defense – to STOP an attacker – not to kill one. By the stats you quote, gun owners are incredibly responsible in their use of lethal defense. There are a large number of statistics and studies online that you may like to familiarize yourself with.

Again, thanks for leaving a comment on my blog.