In fact… the data we have, refutes many commonly held misconceptions (that never had any data behind them anyways) about guns and their use.

In a new Cato Institute paper, Clayton Cramer and David Burnett review the controversy over how often Americans use guns in self-defense each year. […] The most common situation, accounting for 1,227 of 4,669 incidents, was a “home invasion,” where intruders try to force their way into a home they know to be occupied. Burglaries were also common, accounting for 488 incidents. In 285 cases, the defender had a concealed carry permit, and most of those incidents occurred in public. There were very few cases where a permit holder became involved in an avoidable dispute that turned deadly because he had a gun—a scenario that figures prominently in arguments against nondiscretionary permit laws. Also contrary to the warnings of gun controllers, victims in this sample were rarely disarmed by their attackers; the reverse happened more than 20 times as often. Criminals took away defenders’ guns in 11 out of 4,669 incidents, and the defender ended up dead despite being armed in 36 incidents, less than 1 percent of the time. Cramer and Burnett describe many specific cases (mapped by Cato here) in which a gun prevented robbery, rape, serious injury, or death, illustrating their general point that policy makers need to take these benefits into account instead of focusing exclusively on criminal uses.

Full article at Reason

The Cato paper. Yes, you can download it for free.

And a nifty interactive map at Cato mapping out defensive gun use.

Remember, I wasn’t always a gun owner. I didn’t see the point of “assault rifles” because it wasn’t like Bambi wore a bullet-proof vest. I thought the police were there to “protect and serve” and they’d always be there to prevent my wife from being sexually assaulted….

But when you finally decide to look at facts, evidence, data, listen to reasoned arguments, well… it’s hard to refute Truth. You can keep your fingers in your ears and your hands over your eyes if you wish, but that only serves to keep you from realizing Truth. Your choice, I suppose.