If you google “defensive gun usage (DGU)” the most common numbers you find suggest that it happens anywhere from 500k – 3.5 million times annually. The raw numbers come from the CDC, most recently from a survey ordered by President Obama in 2013. While injuries and fatalities resulting from those encounters are delineated, peaceful resolutions are not. Depending on who’s digging into the data, DGUs where the weapon is brandished but not fired & no one is hurt occur anywhere from 200k - 1 million times every year. Whatever the actual tally, it’s not insignificant. When I was an infant we took a day trip to the mountains and stopped at one of my parents’ favorite spots. During our stay a couple bikers rolled in. Dad could tell they were trouble and loaded wife & kid into the car. During the load up one of the bikers shouted at dad to “hand over summa that [racist/misogynistic slur targeting the genitals of my Asian mom ].” Loudmouth wheeled his bike about 5 feet off the back bumper and dismounted. He walked over to the driver’s side window and leaned in to find himself looking down the barrel of a .357. He and his compadre saddled up and rode off. 25 years later I owned a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. One day I towed it to a building my dad owned where I was going to work on it. As I pulled onto the property there were a couple guys about my age sharing a crack pipe. I rolled down the window and said “Hate to tell you guys, but this is private property and you’ll need to clear off.” They both snarled and cursed. One of them picked up a piece of rebar and both advanced. I let them see my pistol and told them to simmer down. Both men split. In both instances: no shots fired and nobody hurt. I'm curious to know if the anti-gunners among us would prefer that me & my dad had been unarmed on those occasions & why.
