How well does the handgun protect you and your family?

Matthew G. Yeager

This report provides data and statistical analyses on victimizations and the use of handguns in self defense to alert the public to the dangers of handgun ownership and the ineffectiveness of handguns as a defense method. Statistics are reviewed which show that a gun in the home is far more likely to lead to the death or injury of a family member or friend than to the death of an intruder. Data on victimizations and the use of firearms for self defense are then examined for the crimes of burglary, robbery, assault, and rape. In each case the effectiveness of guns in preventing or deterring the crime is analyzed, and compared to the effectiveness of other self defense methods. The data presented in this report indicate that private handgun ownership provides no significant deterrent to burglary and violent crime. It may, in fact, escalate the severity of the violence if offenders...