Getting a gun for protection actually puts its owner in greater danger
Although many people conjure up fantasies about how drawing a gun will save them, the real- ity is that gunfire is more likely to claim an inno- cent life or their own. Owning a firearm for personal safety could actually heighten risks and lead to a false sense of security, gun control advo- cates insist. They point to studies that seem to show that keeping a gun at home, instead of safe- guarding the lives of members of a household, increases the likelihood that someone will be killed there in a moment of rage. Loaded guns are more likely to be used to slay family members than intruders. The availability of handguns causes ordinary fights between family members, former friends, and neighbors to evolve into deadly show- downs. According to an analysis of 420 homicides committed in the homes of victims who had access to guns, the majority of the deceased were not murdered by an armed intruder. On the contrary, about three-quarters (77 percent) were slain by a spouse, other family member, or someone else they knew. Only a small proportion (4 percent) was murdered by a complete stranger. The remaining cases (19 percent) were not solved. The highest risks of being shot to death at home are faced by people who keep one or more guns handy, reside in a rental unit, and either live alone or with someone who was previously arrested, uses illicit drugs, assaults others, or was hurt in a family fight (see Leary, 1993).