Right Again

Last week I wrote about some of the dangers and effects of restricting our Second Amendment rights, namely that these restrictions only affect the law-abiding citizens, and it serves only to increase the rate at which supposedly banned weapons are used. It’s time to look at the brighter side, though — the benefits of having an armed citizenry.
The Civilian Gun Defense is a site that gathers information and stories of defensive gun use documented by local and national media across the country. The site recorded 4,100 defensive gun uses from 2003 to 2009. Keep in mind that these are only the stories that were reported by media sources.
When we crunch the numbers we come up with some interesting things, which refute many of the misconceptions about defensive gun use. I always hear from those who are anti-gun about accidents that occur, where someone innocent is shot by an armed citizen. Innocents shot during defensive gun uses occur at a rate of .0009. So yes, it is a terrible thing when it happens, but it is exceedingly rare when compared with the positive outcomes.
One of the other myths you may have heard is that if you use a gun you’re only going to get yourself hurt or killed. Again, just plain false. Armed citizens are wounded less than five percent of the time during defensive gun uses and killed less than one percent of the time. Furthermore, it is foolish in the extreme to think it was exercising their right to bear arms that got those brave citizens killed in the defense of themselves or others.
You also may have heard my personal favorite: “But the criminal will just take your gun and use it against you!” Before I say anything else, just think about that for a second. Yes, it’s ridiculous. The reality of it is that happens less than 0.2 percent of the time, and it is nearly 29 times more likely for you, the citizen, to take the criminal’s weapon and use it against them.
You may have heard that armed citizens actually aren’t effectual and they don’t ever even hit their target. Quite the opposite, actually. In the analyzed encounters, citizens hit their targets 84 percent of the time.
These numbers are taken from incidents reported by the media. The mainstream media is no friend to gun rights. Also, we know that tragedy sells, so they’re more likely report those tragedies. With those things in mind, we can quite reasonably assume the real numbers are even more supportive than what I have mentioned.
In fact, the National Crime Victimization Survey estimated 60-80,000 defensive gun uses and was often cited by anti-gun groups. The reality is quite different. The study “Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun,” published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, found there are actually between 2.1 and 2.5 MILLION defensive gun uses per year.
It is clear people do defend themselves effectively with their right to bear arms. Those that choose to exercise that right defend us all by virtue of the fact that they carry. Criminals don’t know beforehand if they are going to face a citizen who is armed, so it gives them pause. Anyone could be carrying a firearm.
So whether or not you choose to exercise your right, you are still protected by it. I personally believe every citizen should exercise their right to bear arms.
The benefits of having an armed citizenry are obvious. The detriments of disarming the citizenry, as I discussed in my previous column, are equally obvious. Firearms in the hands of the law-abiding citizens of this country serve to protect us all. Don’t be a victim.