Government and Survey-Based Sources
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) through the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) provides the most consistent official estimates. This large-scale federal survey asks crime victims about self-protective actions, including gun use. Recent analyses (e.g., 2019–2023 pooled data) indicate defensive gun use is rare, occurring in under 2% of nonfatal violent victimizations, with estimates typically around 50,000–100,000 incidents per year (including threats or attacks with a firearm). Earlier periods (e.g., 1987–1990) averaged about 65,000 annually. The NCVS is considered reliable by many researchers for focusing on confirmed victimizations but may undercount incidents where no crime was perceived as completed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not systematically track or publish ongoing DGU data. It has referenced a broad range (500,000–3 million annually) from various studies in past reports, but current CDC materials note high variability in estimates and call for more research. No dedicated CDC tracking program exists.
The FBI tracks justifiable homicides (a small subset of DGU involving fatalities), but reporting is incomplete and voluntary from states; it excludes non-fatal defenses.
Non-Government Sources
The Gun Violence Archive (GVA) compiles verifiable incidents from media and law enforcement reports. It categorizes around 1,000–2,000 defensive uses per year (e.g., 1,119 in 2025 as of late December; similar low thousands in prior years). This is widely seen as an undercount, as it only includes publicly reported cases (often involving shots fired) and excludes unreported brandishings or threats.
The Heritage Foundation maintains an interactive database of reported defensive gun uses (starting prominently from 2019), drawing from news sources. It highlights hundreds of verified cases but emphasizes this represents only a fraction, citing broader study ranges of 500,000–3 million annually.
According to almost every major study on the issue, Americans use their firearms defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times each year. From @HeritageDataViz
datavisualizations.heritage.org
At a time when many high-profile politicians are comfortable proposing laws that impose serious burdens on the right to keep and bear arms, including the mass confiscation of commonly owned firearms, it’s important to remember that those same firearms are regularly used by average Americans to...
www.heritage.org
Private surveys and academic studies (e.g., by researchers like Gary Kleck or William English) yield much higher estimates (1–3 million+ annually) by directly asking about self-reported experiences, including non-criminal threats. These are criticized by some for potential overreporting, while NCVS-based figures are critiqued for underreporting.
Some other links
www.ojp.gov
www.ojp.gov
