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In reply to the discussion: Customer shoots bank robber in Warren [View all]branford
(4,462 posts)and includes and analyzes studies from researchers from both sides of the gun rights / gun control divide. Bias and methodologies appear to vary wildly depending political ideology, but most importantly, even the low end estimates establish significant defensive firearm use.
Besides exposing the myth that the CDC doesn't engage in any firearm-related research (although it's still properly mostly a matter for the DOJ, usually the Bureau of Justice Statistics or National Institute of Justice, and private academics), the report is useful because it includes so much information and highlights the disparities of the research.
Quite frankly, I never understood the reluctance of some gun control advocates to concede the prevalence of defense gun use. In a nation with over 300 million people, with 80-100+ million lawful gun owners and 300+ million legal guns, with even more illegal gun owners and guns, there will inevitably be a large amount of guns used for self-defense, even if it only involves minor brandishing as a crime deterrent. The issue is really the cost / benefit analysis which is far more complicated and very subjective. However, since guns certainly cannot be "uninvented," and the forcible confiscation of hundreds of millions of guns in the USA is a practical, legal and political impossibility, policies that would primarily disarm the law-abiding, who statistically are not a danger, simply seem illiberal and cruel.