Myth #4 - "Bad guys will just take your gun away and shoot you."

Myth #4 - "Bad guys will just take your gun away and shoot you."

The techniques required for "weapon retention" are not all that difficult to master, but the greatest risk for being disarmed by an attacker appears to be from open carry in a holster as police officers do. Some ten to fourteen percent of law enforcement officers who are killed are shot with their own guns. By contrast, an average of 1% or fewer of armed citizens end up disarmed by their attacker, no doubt in part because criminals expect police to be armed, but are mostly unpleasantly surprised to find their intended victims are. Police are also more frequently in contact with desperate and dangerous people, who they must attempt to personally apprehend, increasing their risk of being in close enough proximity to be disarmed. Private citizens with guns need not take such risks, and can carry concealed, confronting their attackers at a distance in many situations, rather than permitting attackers to get close enough where a knife or brute strength can come into play. In a home defense situation this is particularly true, if the armed homeowner is alerted by the sound of forced entry, or by an alarm. For the physically weaker members of our society, for the elderly, or the disabled, no other means of self-defense negates the advantages of youth, agility and strength as effectively as a firearm, and none but firearms can defeat strength in numbers. In most cases, the credible brandishing of a gun convinces criminals to look for an easier target, but if life-threatening danger is imminent, and the situation permits, having a gun gives the defender an additional option of resistance, which can reduce the risk of being injured or killed.

Recommended Reading:

"Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun," Kleck, Gary and Gertz, Marc
J. of Criminal Law and Criminology, v.86, n.1, pp.122 (1995)

Uniform Crime Reports: Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted 19xx, United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
SuDoc#s J 1.14/7-6:9xx-993