Citation

Smith TW. J. Crim. Law Criminol. 1997; 87(4): 1462-1469.

Affiliation

University of Chicago, National Opinion Research Ctr, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Northwestern University School of Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

For almost a decade scholars have been debating about how many defensive gun uses (DGUs) occur annually. Gary Kleck and colleagues, citing a series of polls culminating in the 1993 Kleck-Gertz survey, argue that at least 2.55 million people use a firearm for protection against criminals each year. Hemenway and others, relying on the National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVSs), contend that only about 55,000 to 80,000 victims use guns against offenders in a given year. The estimates are wide apart and their academic champions staunchly defend their respective figures as correct and accurate, while dismissing the opposing figures as invalid and implausible. Neither side seems to be willing to give ground or see their opponents' point of view. This is unfortunate since there is good reason to believe that both sides are off-the-mark.