What Does the U.S. National Crime Victimization Survey Tell Us?

[LAGC]

FACT: Even with all the guns floating around out there, you are more likely to be Robbed and much more likely to be Assaulted by an unarmed criminal perpetrator than an armed one, where a gun would come in real handy for self-defense.

Robbery
By armed offenders 200,930
By unarmed offenders 248,420

Assault
By armed offenders 701,440
By unarmed offenders 2,967,070

FACT: Nearly 80% of all Rapes/Sexual Assaults are committed without a weapon, simply by the perpetrator over-powering the victim, where a gun would come in real handy for self-defense.

FACT: Victims who employed protective measures (brandishing a gun, shooting back, etc.) were OVER 10 TIMES MORE LIKELY to report that their efforts helped defuse the situation or prevent the crime, versus those who say employing protective measures hurt their situation.

Person using measure / Number of / Helped / Hurt
Measure taken by victim
Crimes of violence 2,797,070 66.0% 5.7%
Rape/sexual assault 128,520 53.0% 8.9%
Robbery 361,090 65.1% 2.5%
Assault 2,307,460 66.8% 6.1%
Aggravated 478,430 100 66.0% 4.0%
Simple 1,829,030 100 67.0% 6.6%

FACT: Of those victims who employed protective measures and said that they helped, 46.5% said they avoided injury or greater injury, 18.6% said they scared the offender off, 15.3% said it allowed them to escape, 6.4% said it allowed them to protect their property, and 6.9% said it protected other people.

Read it and weep, anti-gun folks, straight from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs -- Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus0804.pdf