michaelhanson
slartabartfast
But strong arguments can be made that the sense of personal security that comes from gun ownership is largely illusory.
You may want to read The Harvard Journal of Law's study on reducing fire arms. Also the CDC's findings on protection with fire arms. They don't support the statement that it is an illusion.
The CDC report is largely useless for making any point about the effectiveness of gun ownership per se in deterring a threat to the person. It does mention conflicting surveys that may support the argument that individuals with guns may prevent crimes. I have no argument with that proposition. I own a shotgun, and I would never consider killing a wild animal except for euthanasia. But my unscientific study of a single gun owner (myself) in the same paragraph demonstrates the reason that the vast majority of gun owners may overestimate the protection that it may afford them against serious bodily harm or death. Like condom use for pregnancy, unless you are packing at all times, you remain vulnerable to a determined attack. In the primary data referenced there that support your point the overwhelming "use" described by survey respondents is basically menacing or threatening a criminal with a gun. That gun use might better be characterized as persuasion, although the presence of the gun can be considered a convincing argument. Although extrapolation from reports indicates a large number of episodes of deterring crime with a gun, the number of criminals killed by victims is only about three thousand annually. Presumably most of the deterrence could be accomplished with a facsimile weapon, a practice which I would not recommend since an armed perpetrator fearing for his life might well kill the toy gun wielding good guy in "self defense." Survey respondents often report that they used a gun to save a life. I certainly would not want to introduce a gun into a confrontation unless I believed a life was at stake, but I realize that in most cases of stranger crime, the criminal is unlikely to intend to kill me or others near me, although I expect many are willing to try to convince me that they will do so if I do not comply.
The CDC does make some disquieting suggestions that the ready availability of guns in the home may significantly increase the likelihood of interfamilial murder and suicide, and that violent media and video games may contribute, but I am not suggesting banning guns, suicide or games either.
This is all I can find that is relevant in the CDC report:
Protective Effects of Gun Ownership
Estimates of gun use for self-defense vary widely, in part due to definitional differences for self-defensive gun use; different data sources; and questions about accuracy of data, particularly when self-reported. The NCVS has estimated 60,000 to 120,000 defensive uses of guns per year. On the basis of data from 1992 and 1994, the NCVS found 116,000 incidents (McDowall et al., 1998). Another body of research estimated annual gun use for self-defense to be much higher, up to 2.5 million incidents, suggesting that self-defense can be an important crime deterrent (Kleck and Gertz, 1995). Some studies on the association between self-defensive gun use and injury or loss to the victim have found less loss and injury when a firearm is used (Kleck, 2001b).
https://www.nap.edu/read/18319/chapter/3#40 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/91da/afbf92d021f06426764e800a4e639a1c1116.pdf