Quote:
Originally Posted by cmac2012
These guys say 2.5 million times a year, crime is prevented because of a private gun -- well, they referred to it as "defensive gun use." That seems high to me. That would mean that every year, about 1 out of every 100 Americans has such an experience.
I've not run into anywhere near that common of an incidence of that.
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Sounds about right to me. Such incidents involving the use of a handgun for self-defense are VERY under-reported.
Also... Obviously the distribution is not even across the population. People who live in higher-crime areas or work in higher-risk occupations are more likely to be in that situation more than once, while people in low-crime areas are more likely to not ever have such an incident.
I personally know a liquor store owner whose place of business is a few miles from my house. He is FAR from being the kind of guy many would consider a stereotypical "gun-nut, NRA-type". He wears his handgun on a belt holster daily at work. No doubt, it is a highly visible deterrent. However, he STILL was forced to draw the weapon to prevent a robbery and/or a violent attack in his store FIVE different times in just the past YEAR.
If he had been unarmed, and just had relied on the police to provide protection, as some here advocate (as well as many anti-gun folks in general), it is highly probable that he would be either out of business, or dead, or both.
Mike