37-39. Overestimates of
self-defense gun use
We use epidemiological
theory to explain why the "false positive" problem for rare events
can lead to large overestimates of the incidence of rare diseases or rare
phenomena such as self-defense gun use. We then try to validate the claims of
many millions of annual self-defense uses against available evidence.
Major findings: The claim of many millions of annual self-defense gun
uses by American citizens appears to be invalid.
Publication: Hemenway, David. "Survey Research and Self-defense Gun Use:
An Explanation of Extreme Overestimates." Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology. 1997; 87:1430-1445.
Publication: Hemenway, David. "The Myth of Millions of Annual
Self-defense Gun Uses: A Case Study of Survey Overestimates of Rare Events." Chance
(American Statistical Association). 1997; 10:6-10.
Publication: Cook, Philip J; Ludwig, Jens; Hemenway, David. "The Gun
Debate's New Mythical Number: How Many Defensive Uses per Year?" Journal of
Policy Analysis and Management. 1997; 16:463-469.
40. Legality of reported self-defense gun
use
We analyzed data from two national random-digit-dial surveys conducted under
the auspices of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
Major findings: Criminal court judges who read the self-reported
accounts of the purported self-defense gun use rated a majority as being
illegal, even assuming that the respondent had a permit to own and to carry a
gun, and that the respondent had described the event honestly from his own
perspective.
Publication: Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah.
"Gun Use in the United States: Results from Two National
Surveys." Injury Prevention. 2000; 6:263-267.
41. Hostile gun displays
Using data from a national random-digit-dial telephone survey conducted under
the direction of the Harvard Injury Control Center, we examined the extent and nature of
offensive gun use.
Major findings: Firearms are used far more often to frighten and
intimidate than they are used in self-defense. All reported cases of criminal
gun use, as well as many of the so-called self-defense gun uses, appear to be
socially undesirable.
Publication: Hemenway, David; Azrael, Deborah. "The Relative
Frequency of Offensive and Defensive Gun Use: Results of a National
Survey." Violence and Victims. 2000; 15:257-272
42. Gun use in the home.
Using data from a
national random-digit-dial telephone survey conducted under the direction of
the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, we investigated how and when guns are
used in the home.
Major findings: Guns in the home are probably used more often to
frighten intimates than to thwart crime; other weapons are far more commonly
used against intruders than are guns.
Publication: Azrael, Deborah R; Hemenway, David. "In the Safety of
your own Home: Results from a National Survey of Gun Use at Home." Social
Science and Medicine. 2000; 50:285-91
43. The wounding of criminals.
Using data from a survey of detainees in a Washington D.C. jail, we worked with a prison physician
to investigate the circumstances of gunshot wounds to these criminals.
Major Findings: One in four of these detainees had been wounded, in
events that appear unrelated to their incarceration. Most were shot when they
were victims of robberies, assaults and crossfires. Virtually none report being
wounded by a "law-abiding citizen."
Publication: May, John P; Hemenway, David; Oen, Roger; Pitts, Khalid R.
"When Criminals are Shot: A Survey of Washington DC Jail Detainees"
Medscape General Medicine. 2000; June 28. www.medscape.com
44. Gun threats against and
self-defense gun use by adolescents
We analyzed data from a telephone survey of 5,800 California adolescents aged 12-17,
which asked questions about gun threats against, and self-defense gun use by
these young people.
Major
Findings: These young people were
far more likely to be threatened with a gun than to use a gun in self-defense,
and most of the reported self-defense gun uses were hostile interactions
between armed adolescents. Males, smokers,
binge drinkers, those who threatened others and whose parents were less likely
to know their whereabouts were more likely both to be threatened with a gun and
to use a gun in self-defense.
Publication:
Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew. "Gun
Threats Against and Self-Defense Gun Use by California Adolescents." Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine. 2004; 158:395-400.
45. Batterers' use of guns
We analyzed survey data collected from over 8,000
males enrolled in a certified batterer intervention program in Massachusetts, 1999-2003.
Major Findings: Recent gun owners were 8 times more likely to have threatened their
partners with a gun than non-gun owners.
Four main types of gun threat against partners were (a) threatening to
shoot then, (b) threatening to shoot a pet or person the victim cares about,
(c) cleaning, holding or loading a gun during an argument, and (d) shooting a
gun during an argument.
Publication:
Rothman, Emily; Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah. "Batterers' Use of Guns to Threaten Intimate
Partners" Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, 2005;
60:62-68.