Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Florida Alert! Heritage Foundation Introducing a Defensive Gun Use Database

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

DATE:       April 21, 2020
 TO:     USF & NRA Members and Friends
 FROM:     Marion P. Hammer
   USF Executive Director
   NRA Past President

 

Anti-gun forces are always quick to report the use of firearms in violent crimes - but they never talk about the number of times law-abiding people use a firearm successfully in lawful self-defense.   Published in the 1990s, "Point Blank" by  Dr. Gary Kleck, a criminologist and researcher from Florida State University, destroyed the arguments of  gun control proponents.

His research revealed that crime among people who carry guns for self-defense is almost nonexistent. 

His study found that a firearm is used to protect it's owner, from crime, approximately 2.5 million times a year.  Additionally, those findings show that for every time a gun is used in the commission of crime, a gun is used 3-4 more times in self-defense. 

The Heritage Foundation is now introducing a database of defensive gun use.  

 

Loading a New Database of Defensive Gun Use

By Amy Swearer 

Daily Signal

April 20, 2020 

https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/20/loading-a-new-database-of-defensive-gun-use/

 

Amy Swearer is a senior legal policy analyst at the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. 

For well over a year, The Daily Signal has published a monthly series highlighting lawful gun owners who used their firearms to protect their liberties, lives, or livelihoods. 

Although these articles recount just a dozen or so stories each month, the incidents are selected from hundreds of other, similar examples. 

Those defensive gun usesare worth highlighting, too. That’s why The Heritage Foundation is introducing its Defensive Gun Use Database, an interactive map featuring all of the news accounts from police reports that we couldn’t fit into installments of the monthly series. 

What’s the Defensive Gun Use Database? 

The database features an interactive map that allows users to locate instances of defensive gun use in their own states and cities. 

Clicking on a specific dot on the map provides the user with an instant breakdown of important information about the incident of defensive gun use that the dot represents. 

For example, users can see the date and location of the defensive gun use, what type of firearm was involved, and the context in which the gun was used—including to defend against a home invasion, armed robbery, or domestic violence). 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost all major studies on defensive gun use have found that Americans use their firearms defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times each year. Researchers have good reason to believe, however, that most defensive gun uses aren’t reported to law enforcement, much less picked up by local or national media outlets…  https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/04/20/loading-a-new-database-of-defensive-gun-use/ 

 

Read More Articles on this subject...

https://www.heritage.org/search?contains=Defensive+Gun+Use+Database

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRENDING NOW
All Flags, No Fix: Michigan’s Real Public Safety Problem

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

All Flags, No Fix: Michigan’s Real Public Safety Problem

Sorry, Michiganders, but the state has developed a serious problem with crime and consequences.

Commerce Dept. Explains Why Unconstitutional Microstamping is Also Ineffective

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

Commerce Dept. Explains Why Unconstitutional Microstamping is Also Ineffective

On August 12, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sent a letter to U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas) reiterating what gun rights ...

Biden-Era “Engaged in the Business” Rule (Again) Ruled Illegal

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

Biden-Era “Engaged in the Business” Rule (Again) Ruled Illegal

The anti-gun programs and policies of the Biden-Harris administration have been falling like dominoes, lately.

Australia Remains Committed to Eliminating Guns from the Law-Abiding

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

Australia Remains Committed to Eliminating Guns from the Law-Abiding

It’s been a long time since Australia had relatively sensible gun laws.  While national regulations did not really come into play until the 1990s, the states and territories began imposing severe restrictions on lawful gun owners ...

A New Era of Access for Hunters: Trump DOI Expands Opportunities in Historic Move

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

A New Era of Access for Hunters: Trump DOI Expands Opportunities in Historic Move

Heading into hunting season, America's sportsmen and women have another significant development from the Trump administration worth celebrating.

NRA-ILA Launches First-Ever National “Gun Bus Battleground Tour” to Mobilize Gun Owners for 2026 Midterms

News  

Monday, August 31, 2026

NRA-ILA Launches First-Ever National “Gun Bus Battleground Tour” to Mobilize Gun Owners for 2026 Midterms

FAIRFAX, Va. — The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) todaylaunched its first-ever national bus tour, the 2026 NRA’s Gun Bus Battleground Tour, a more than two month, 13-state campaign to energize and ...

District Court Enters Final Judgment Striking Down New Mexico’s Waiting Period Law in NRA Victory

Friday, August 28, 2026

District Court Enters Final Judgment Striking Down New Mexico’s Waiting Period Law in NRA Victory

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico granted summary judgment holding New Mexico’s 7-day waiting period law unconstitutional in Ortega v. Grisham—a case brought by the National Rifle Association and Mountain States ...

FBI Releases Final Crime Report for 2025 to the Dismay of Firearm Prohibitionists

News  

Monday, August 24, 2026

FBI Releases Final Crime Report for 2025 to the Dismay of Firearm Prohibitionists

There has been a certain amount of anticipation while the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) analyzed the available crime data for last year. The speculation among many was that the report would be, not just ...

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

On August 12, we reported on an important development in the ongoing litigation over the National Firearms Act (NFA) filed by multiple plaintiffs in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. These included, ...

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.