Personal Defense Top Reason for Gun Ownership

Injury Journal published the results of a study in late May that found protecting themselves and their loved ones was the overwhelming reason Americans own a gun. According to the researchers, in 1999 only 26 percent of firearm owners cited fear of criminal attack as the primary motivation, but by 2023—the year the survey was conducted—the figure was up to 78.8 percent.

According to the study. firearms are present in more than 60 percent of households. Also according to the study, approximately 65 million people consider their gun’s primary mission to be personal defense. “Women, black and Hispanic people were more likely to own firearms for protection than for other reasons,” they wrote.

It’s a trend that has accelerated significantly in the last decade. Roughly 48 percent of gun owners cited self-defense in 2013. Between 2017 and 2021 it grew to between 60 and 70 and now stands at roughly 79 percent.

That duty isn’t confined to home defense, either. “…58.1 percent… carried a firearm outside their home in the last 12 months,” the University of Michigan researchers found.

Some of the demographic findings are surprising. Black and Asian women, for example, own a gun almost exclusively for self-defense (98.8 percent). The figure among black men came in at 88.4 percent and white males who participated in the survey trailed at 69.7 percent.

The authors noted the self-defense mission rises above political rhetoric. “Other characteristics, including political affiliation, were not significantly associated with motivation for firearm ownership,” they wrote.

A survey conducted by Georgetown University Political Economist William English in 2021 estimated the number of times law-abiding citizens have used of simply displaying their gun to stop a criminal attack. In a paper covering the results he summarized, “…that approximately a third of gun owners (31.1 percent) have used a firearm to defend themselves or their property, often on more than one occasion, and it estimates that guns are used defensively by firearms owners in approximately 1.67 million incidents per year.”