General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm all for a total ban on semi-automatic guns [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)In fact, even if we could agree on the DGU number, that still wouldn't tell us what we need to know because it's hard to determine how many DGU incidents actually save a life or prevent harm. Just because someone claims self-defense doesn't mean it was a necessary and beneficial act.
But that doesn't mean there's no data.
There are case-control studies, where the compute the likelihood that a person who owns or carries a gun is a victim of a crime, versus a person with no gun. It turns out the guns are associated with an increased risk, rather than decreased risk, even after controlling for things like criminal history and drug/alcohol use.
There are ecological studies, where the look at rates of homicide and compare them to rates of gun ownership. It turns out that, where there are more guns, there is more homicide, even after controlling for other socioeconomic factors.
In the end, the totality of the evidence supports the common sense conclusion, which is that safety is enhanced by having less guns, not more.