How many people are saved by guns?

Answer 1

A very difficult question to accurately answer. The answer depends on which study you want to read. I have seen one study that puts the number of defensive uses of firearms by US private citizens at 64,000 a year, and other studies at 2,500,000 times a year. How many of those uses resulted in someone being "saved" is an open question- we cannot say that someone WOULD have died until they DO die. Without question, there IS a large number of events where people have used a firearm- or the threat of a firearm- to protect themselves from an attack. Just my personal belief- you will not find an accurate number, since in many cases, people that have defended themselves do not attempt to report the crime, but remain silent out of fear of being prosecuted for defending themselves.