2nd Amendment Data

Lies upon lies are regularly spread about the 2nd Amendment, conceal carry, gun owners, and guns themselves. From “small” lies made from manipulating data to create a predetermined outcome, all the way up to flagrant lies that have no basis in reality. Many of these lies are spread by news organizations, Hollywood, and just hearsay on across the web and coffee tables.

This article is a collection of data supporting the 2nd Amendment and law abiding gun owners all across the US.

This 2a data comes from a wide variety studies from US Government organizations, foreign governments, and private studies from individuals and academic groups.

Reducing Violent Crime without Gun Control

While this first link isn’t traditional data, it is important. Anti-gunners love to claim pro-gun advocates don’t want to do anything to combat violent crime and save lives. That is very false.

There are many proven ways of reducing all violent crime – none of these methods require gun control and all of these methods have been proposed by 2nd Amendment organizations, politicians, and activists.

Table of contents

Self defense & conceal carry

The anti-gun movement loves to claim that you are more likely to be shot by your own gun than use it in lawful self defense. That claim is based on a study that used very flawed data set. That study only examined deaths with firearms and ignored incidents of lawful self defense where no one was killed – and the data shows us that most self defense incidents with a gun do not result in death – despite what Hollywood tells us.

Knowing the statistics surrounding lawful self defense is an important first step in understanding 2nd Amendment data.

Self Defense Reduces Crime, Firearms are the Best Tool for Self Defense – According to the CDC

Guns are used around 300,000 times a year in crime, but 500,000 to 3,000,000 times a year in lawful self defense according to the CDC. The CDC also tells us that self defense is important for reducing violent crime and amongst self defenders there are “consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.”

12.3% of Americans sometimes carry handguns, 5.4% of Americans carry most or all the time, & 2.4% carry all the time

Law abiding citizens carry guns daily by the millions. If conceal carriers were a massive safety risk, where is the “blood in the streets” that is so often talked about by the anti-gun movement?

Armed Citizens Are Successful 94% Of The Time At Active Shooter Events [FBI]

Anti-gun advocates also love to claim citizens have no chance at stopping a mass shooting, but the FBI claims they are actually quite effective at it.

“The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike.”

Conceal carriers are more law abiding than police officers

Specifically, CHL holders have a conviction rate of .3% while police have a conviction rate of 2% in the states of Texas and Florida.

Gun ownership

Gun Ownership is on the Rise – 44% of Households Own a Gun

Not only do 44% of US households own a gun, but the average gun per gun owner is on the rise.

Over 90% of guns used in crime were obtained illegally

It’s difficult to get an exact number, but it doesn’t matter how you crunch the numbers, very few murders are committed with legally owned guns.

NBC/WSJ Poll Shocker: Majority Of Americans Say Owning A Gun Increases Safety

“Nearly six-in-10 Americans say that gun ownership increases safety, even as a plurality of respondents support gun-control organizations, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.”

Total US Firearms: Not 300 Million, but 412-660 Million

The number of guns in America was estimated to be 300 million many years ago, and then never really updated. Recent estimates put it closer to double that number.

Americans Have Bought More Guns In the Past Two Months Than Our Military Has On Hand

Not only do Americans own a lot of guns, they buy guns at an astounding rate. Record breaking gun sales have been happening year over year, and in 2018, Americans bought more guns than the US Military has on hand in two months.

Crime committed with firearms

Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

Even though violent crime is on the decline, the general public believes violent crime is on the rise. The 24/7 news cycle filled with fear and death really does a toll on the world.

Report from the National Institute of Justice on Gun Violence

“Gun-related homicide is most prevalent among gangs and during the commission of felony crimes. In 1980, the percentage of homicides caused by firearms during arguments was about the same as from gang involvement (about 70 percent), but by 1993, nearly all gang-related homicides involved guns (95 percent), whereas the percentage of gun homicides related to arguments remained relatively constant.” The issue isn’t guns themselves, the issue is gangs murdering people, and they will continue to do so no matter the gun laws.

Hands and feet murdered more people in 2017 than rifles and shotguns combined

The current focus among anti-gunners is on “assault weapons” as they call them. (But they can’t agree on the definition of an assault weapon) But all rifles and shotguns combined, including “assault weapons” and non “assault weapons” are responsible for fewer murders than people’s bare hands and feet.

FBI: Gangs Responsible for 48% of Violent Crime

Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions and up to 90 percent in several others, the NGIC analysis shows.

People who commit gun crimes are likely to have been shot before

“Probably the most important insight in understanding gun violence in the last 25 years is that the violence happens hugely disproportionately among a really small network of folks who are at astronomical risk of victimization and offending.”

Analysis of murder data in Baltimore: 82% of Victims have criminal record, 81% of suspects have criminal record, average victim had 10.8 arrests

A large number of murder victims are criminals killing criminals. That cycle of violence is a serious problem, but won’t stop by simply banning guns.

Mass Shootings

Gun Laws Have Basically No Impact on Mass Shooter Rate

A recent study made a claim that gun laws have a connection to mass shootings. The study is bunk and here’s a thorough overview debunking the study.

The Myth That the US Leads the World in Mass Shootings

A study claiming America leads the world in mass shootings constantantly gets spread around, but the data shows us that claim is false.

98.4% of Mass Shootings Occurred in Gun Free Zones

Criminals seek out unarmed targets. Naturally, mass shooters seek out gun free zones for defenseless victims.

The Media’s Over Coverage of Mass Shootings Creates More Mass Shootings

“If the mass media and social media enthusiasts make a pact to no longer share, reproduce or retweet the names, faces, detailed histories or long-winded statements of killers, we could see a dramatic reduction in mass shootings in one to two years.”

The Effect of Large-Capacity Magazines on the Casualty Counts in Mass Shootings

“Large capacity magazines – defined as holding over 10 rounds – were used in only 21 of the 88 incidents (24%). So, in 76% of the incidents, a large-capacity magazine ban would have made no difference in any event.

“Kleck then goes on to analyze further the 21 incidents in which a large-capacity magazine was used. In every case, the shooters carried either multiple guns or multiple magazines. Therefore, even without a large-capacity magazine, the shooters could easily switch guns or magazines.

“Kleck also marshals evidence to show that the rate of fire of most mass shooters is so slow that having to change guns or magazines more frequently would not diminish their casualty counts.”

Students More Likely to Be Hit by Lightning Than Shot in Class, Yet Fear of Mass Violence Is Driving Policy

The hyped up fear of school shootings are being used as a driving factor for gun control policies. But the data shows us that school shootings are extremely rare, so rare that we’re more likely to get struck by lightning.

Mass Shootings are Contagious

“After shootings which resulted in at least 4 deaths per incident, the chances of another shooting rose 20-30% for the next 13 days.” The 24/7 news cycle whipping up fear over mass shootings for the sake of generating ad revenue creates copycat mass shooters.

14 Laws that Did Not Stop the Maryland School Shooting

Gun control laws didn’t stop the Maryland school shooter – a good guy with a gun did.

Our 2nd Amendment rights are all about protecting Americans, not endangering them.

Anti-gun laws

Canadas AWB Does Not Actually Ban “Assault Weapons” Nor Stop Shootings

“It is irrational to conflate civilian firearm owners with violent criminals.”

“In sum, the proposition that restricting general civilian access to firearms acts to reduce homicide rates cannot be empirically justified.”

Has gun control made Baltimore safer? Data analyst says ‘No’

This expert in data analysis dug extensively into crime data in Baltimore and nearby, similar cities. His thorough report concludes that gun control does not make American safer.

Borderland Homicides Show Mexico's Gun Control Has Failed

“In other words, in Mexico, there is an immense asymmetry in gun ownership between violent criminals and law-abiding citizens. Criminals have abundant access to the means of violent coercion, and the will to use it. Ordinary citizens, on the other hand, have, practically speaking, no access. Meanwhile, local officials can be bought by the criminals, which means that private citizens will then find themselves facing two heavily armed groups who are free to behave maliciously toward the general population with little fear of reprisals.”

Majority in U.S. Now Oppose Ban on Assault Rifles

Despite what many people think, support for gun control is declining.

Universal Background Checks Don’t Work & Don’t Have Public Support

The anti-gunners’ proposals to expand background checks don’t work, is unconstitutional, and doesn’t have public support. This is a mega post pointing out everything wrong with Universal Background Checks.

Red Flag Laws Do Not Reduce Crime

“Red flag laws had no significant effect on murder, suicide, the number of people killed in mass public shootings, robbery, aggravated assault, or burglary.”

The Origins of Gun Control are in Racism

Advocating for gun control is pushing to keep this racist initiative alive. Gun control is pushing for racial, economic, and social inequality. Advocating for gun rights is advocating for racial, economic, and social equality.

Dems Called for More Gun Control After Aurora Shooting. State Police Reveal Existing Laws Were Not Enforced.

Existing laws are enforced very poorly. Many recent mass shootings, such as Parkland or the Texas Church shooting, could have been avoided if existing gun laws had been enforced.

Gun Buybacks Don’t Work (if you Believe in Math)

“Cost for the buyback is $120 billion dollars, to save 1972 lives, for a net of $61 million dollars per single life saved.”

Dispelling the Myth of Australia's Gun Control Success Story

“While Australia has experienced a decline in the homicide rate this fails to correlate with their extreme gun control measures. This same reduction in murder was seen in America as well as many developed western nations as crime spiked in the 90s and then began it’s decline into the millennium.

While gun control advocates like to attribute Australia’s already lower homicide rate, that existed prior to their gun control measures, to those measures. We see that America saw greater progress without resorting to such extremes.”

Other

Do Guns Make Adolescents Commit Suicide?

“There is no evidence yet that controlling the availability of firearms is at all associated with changes in overall suicide rates.”

“International suicide studies confirm that the presence or absence of firearms among civilians is unrelated to the rate of suicide in various countries, which appears primarily to be culturally determined.”

The CDC Can (and Does) Research Firearms & Gun Deaths

Ever heard that the government can’t study guns? Turns out, the government can, and does, study firearms.

DOJ study: Criminals don't get their guns from legal sources

Among prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense, 90% did not obtain it from a retail source. ~56% was black market, theft, or at the crime

DOJ study: Criminals don't get their guns from legal sources

Among prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense, 90% did not obtain it from a retail source. ~56% was black market, theft, or at the crime

Firearms Industry Economic Impact Rises 171% Since 2008

Anti-gunners love to claim that only a vocal minority owns guns and that gun ownership is on the decline. If so, why is the firearms “economic impact” growing so much?

“No one wants to take your guns”

Lawmakers in Hawaii Propose Repealing Second Amendment

Legislators in Hawaii have filed a Resolution to start the process to amend the Constitution and repeal the 2nd Amendment.

Quora answer with a long list of politicians calling to ban guns

“Banning guns has been a goal of the Democratic party since 1972.”

Yes, the Anti-Gun Movement Does Want to Take Our Guns

They insist they don’t want to take our guns, while also telling us we need to give up our guns and writing legislation to take our guns.

Survey: Majority of Democrats want to ban semi-automatics, half want to ban all guns

“When pro-gun control advocates tell you they don’t want to take your guns, they actually want to take your guns.”

Boston Globe Calls for Complete Gun Confiscation

David at the Boston Globe published a completely one sided argument for gun control, not even using the phrase “self defense” once.