Responsible Firearms Ownership 

                         GUN NEWS YOU NEVER SEE

                      By JOHN R. LOTT, JR
 

                      August 6, 2001 -- THE Post recently
                      reported how a 69-year-old man
                      successfully rescued his 19-year-old son
                      by shooting a "vicious dog." The story is
                      noteworthy for the very fact that a
                      newspaper reported it at all.

                      Few people realize that civilians use
                      guns defensively, not just against dogs,
                      but to stop about 2 million crimes a year
                      - five times more often than guns are
                      used to commit crimes, according to
                      national surveys. Yet when was the last
                      time you heard the evening news talk
                      about a citizen saving a life with a gun?

                      Some very brief stories do appear,
                      buried deep in newspapers - almost
                      always the bloodier cases, where the
                      attacker is shot and usually killed.

                      But research indicates that fewer than
                      one out of 1,000 defensive uses of a gun
                      results in the attacker's death. In up to
                      98 percent of the cases, simply
                      brandishing a gun is sufficient to stop a
                      crime. And that provides no emotionally
                      gripping picture to make the story
                      "newsworthy."

                      Though surveys indicate that more than
                      60 percent of defensive use occurs in
                      urban areas, major newspapers rarely
                      report these cases. Most accounts
                      appear in small rural newspapers - and
                      even when multiple lives are saved, the
                      stories don't get picked by the wire
                      services.

                      Sampled below are some of the 20
                      defensive-gun-use stories that my
                      colleague Robert Waters and I found
                      reported in local media around the
                      country during the same week as the
                      Post story (July 22-28):

                      * Augusta, Ga.: At 5 a.m., a former
                      boyfriend, awaiting trial for previously
                      assaulting a woman, shattered a window
                      next to her front door with a piece of
                      concrete and let himself in. According to
                      the coroner, "When he raised back with
                      a piece of concrete in his hand, she fired
                      [the weapon] and struck him dead
                      center in the right eye."

                      * Spartanburg, N.C.: Arriving home at
                      night, a man found a burglar with
                      firearms in his kitchen. The homeowner
                      pulled out his permitted concealed
                      handgun and shot the intruder twice,
                      killing him. Police said the burglar had an
                      outstanding "violence charge."

                      * Near Nashville, Tenn.: A car with two
                      men, driven erratically, almost ran
                      several others off a highway. It then
                      followed another car off the highway to
                      a red light. Two men from the pursuing
                      car walked over; one hit the driver and
                      the other pointed a gun. When they
                      demanded his wallet, the 24-year-old
                      victim, carrying a permitted concealed
                      handgun, wounded an attacker. Both
                      men fled.

                      * Gainesville, Fla.: A newspaper carrier
                      was dragged from his car and beaten.
                      At 3:15 a.m., police said, "Five guys get
                      out and start running toward [the victim].
                      All five guys converged on him, breaking
                      the windshield and beating up his car."
                      After being pulled from his car, the victim
                      shot one attacker in the chest, wounding
                      him. A police officer said: "If you have a
                      concealed weapons permit, that's what
                      it's for . . . it very easily saved [the
                      victim's] life."

                      * East Nashville, Tenn.: Just before
                      midnight, a woman fatally shot an
                      intruder who had entered her home and
                      tried to sexually assault her.

                      * Tampa, Fla.: Two teenage armed
                      robbers committed a four-hour crime
                      spree, carjacking cars, robbing people,
                      and hospitalizing one victim with serious
                      injuries. They were only stopped by one
                      intended victim, a pizza-store owner who
                      shot and wounded one attacker. The
                      wounded robber was arrested later at a
                      hospital.

                      * Charleston, S.C.: A carjacking was
                      stopped when a 27-year-old victim shot
                      one of his attackers. The victim had
                      stopped to ask directions when several
                      men, at least one with a lengthy criminal
                      record, jumped into the car.

                      What advice would gun-control
                      advocates have given these victims?
                      Behave passively? Should the woman
                      being threatened with the piece of
                      concrete have simply tried to duck?
                      What about the newspaper carrier?

                      By making it difficult for law-abiding
                      people to get the most effective tool to
                      defend themselves, gun control often
                      puts victims' lives in jeopardy.

                      John Lott, a senior research scholar at
                      the Yale University Law School, is the
                      author of "More Guns, Less Crime"
                      (University of Chicago Press, 2000).