THE INCIDENCE OF DEFENSIVE FIREARM USE BY US CRIME VICTIMS, 1987 THROUGH 1990

It is well known that many crimes in the United States are committed w ith firearms. Less adequately documented is the frequency with which v ictims use guns in self-defense. We used National Crime Victimization Survey data to examine incidents where victims employed guns against o ffenders. Between 1987 and 1990 there were an estimated 258 450 incide nts of firearm defense, an annual mean of 64 615. Victims used firearm s in 0.18% of all crimes recorded by the survey and in 0.83% of violen t offenses. Firearm self-defense is rare compared with gun crimes.