WUNRN
From Rebecca Gerome & Sarah
Masters
IANSA - International Action Network
on Small Arms
The report ‘A Deadly Myth: Women, Handguns, and Self-Defense’ in 2001 by The Violence Policy Centre (VPC), remains relevant as recent media
articles, particularly in the US, are focusing on the number of women purported
to be buying and using guns.
However, a recent National Opinion Research Center (NORC) study shows
the demographics of
_____________________________________________________________________
Violence Policy Center
Women, Handguns, and Self-Defense - A Deadly Myth
Introduction
In the late 1980s, the gun industry began targeting women to counter slumping handgun sales among its primary market of white males. The false message delivered by gunmakers was clear: the greatest threat posed to a woman was an attack by a stranger and, the best form of protection a woman could rely upon was a handgun.1
Much to
the disappointment and consternation of the gun industry, these efforts for the
most part have failed. A 1995 study by the National Opinion Research Center
(NORC) conducted by Tom Smith and Robert J. Smith found that handgun ownership
among women was, and remains, uncommon. This study found any fluctuations in
the percentage of women who owned handguns to be statistically insignificant
(see Chart One below).2
The 1996 study Guns in America found that only 6.6 percent of adult American women owned a handgun—less than one out of every 10 women. But of these women, nearly 85 percent owned their handguns for self-defense—a figure that offers gunmakers continual hope in their marketing endeavors.3 Yet how often are handguns actually used by women to kill in self-defense? The answer, as revealed by unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data, is hardly ever. Women were murdered with handguns more than 1,200 times in 1998 alone. As these numbers reveal, handguns don't offer protection for women, but instead guarantee peril.4
For all of the promises made on behalf of the self-defense handgun, using a handgun to kill in self-defense is a rare event.5 Looking at both men and women, over the past 20 years, on average only two percent of the homicides committed with handguns in the United States were deemed justifiable or self-defense homicides by civilians.6 To put it in perspective, more people are struck by lightning each year than use handguns to kill in self-defense.7
This
study presents data from the FBI and consists of three different analyses
concerning women, handguns, and self-defense. It compares incidents of:
In 1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill in
self-defense, 101 women were murdered with a handgun.
Despite the promises of gun-industry advertising, a woman is far more likely to be the victim of a handgun homicide than to use a handgun in a justifiable homicide. In 1998, handguns were used to murder 1,209 women.8 That same year, 12 women used handguns to kill in self-defense.
When a woman did use a handgun to kill in self-defense, it was usually against someone she knew, not against a stranger. Of the 12 handgun self-defense killings by women reported to the FBI in 1998, eight involved attackers known to the woman, while only four involved strangers.
All the
attackers that the women justifiably killed were males, as were an overwhelming
number of offenders in female handgun homicides. For the majority of both
justifiable and criminal homicides, both the shooter and the victim were of the
same race. [See Table One]
TABLE ONE |
Women
who used a handgun to kill in self-defense |
Attackers
killed by a woman with a handgun in self-defense |
Women
murdered with a handgun |
Those
who murdered a woman with a handgun |
Number of people |
12 |
12 |
1,209 |
at
least 1,1109 |
Average age |
31.9 |
31.2 |
34.5 |
36.2 |
Race (where known) |
White -
33% Black - 67% Other - 0% |
White -
42% Black - 58% Other - 0% |
White -
55% Black - 42% Other - 3% |
White -
53% Black - 45% Other - 1% |
Gender |
. |
Male -
100% Female - 0% |
. |
Male -
96% Female - 4% |
Percent of incidents that were intra-racial10 |
75% |
92% |
In 1998,
for every time a woman used a handgun to kill an intimate acquaintance in
self-defense, 83 woman were murdered by an intimate acquaintance with a
handgun.
It is often intimate acquaintances and family members who endanger a woman's life.11 Yet women who own a handgun for self-defense usually do so to protect themselves from strangers. Many women who use handguns to kill in self-defense use the weapon against someone they know, or someone with whom they have, or have had, a romantic relationship.
Recognizing that most people are killed by someone they know, it is not surprising that the majority of justifiable homicides involve victims and attackers known to each other. Of the 12 justifiable homicides by women using a handgun that were reported to the FBI in 1998, eight involved an attacker known to the woman. Of these eight offenders, six were intimate acquaintances (three boyfriends, three husbands), one was a friend, and one was an acquaintance.
When
there is a deadly encounter between a woman and her intimate acquaintance, and
a handgun is involved, the most common scenario involves a woman being shot and
killed by her intimate acquaintance. Of the 872 women murdered with a handgun
whose relationship could be determined, 57 percent (497 of 872) were intimate
acquaintances of the offender.12 Of these, more than half (260 of
497) were wives of the offenders. [See Table Two]
TABLE TWO |
Women who killed an intimate acquaintance with a handgun in
self-defense |
Women murdered by an intimate acquaintance with a handgun |
Number of People |
6 |
497 |
Relationships |
3 were Girlfriends 3 were
Wives |
260 were Wives 180
were Girlfriends 31 were
Common-Law Wives 26 were
Ex-Wives |
In 1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill a stranger in
self-defense, 302 woman were murdered with a handgun.
Women who purchase handguns for self-protection are most likely planning to protect themselves and their families from strangers. Yet, women rarely use handguns to kill strangers in self-defense. In fact, compared to the frequency with which a woman uses a handgun to kill a stranger, the number of times that a handgun is used to murder a woman is staggering.
Table
Three lists, by state, the number of women who used a handgun to kill a
stranger or an intimate acquaintance in self-defense, as well as the number of
women murdered with a handgun in 1998. Of the 47 states that submitted data to
the FBI that year, only eight reported any justifiable homicides by women
involving a handgun: California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Of these, only California, Georgia, and North
Carolina reported women who justifiably killed a stranger in self-defense,
while California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas reported women who
justifiably killed an intimate acquaintance in self-defense.
Table Three |
|||||
State |
Number of Women Who Used a Handgun |
Number of Women Murdered with a Handgun |
|||
|
to Kill a Stranger in Self-Defense |
to Kill an Intimate Acquaintance in Self-Defense |
to Kill a Friend or Acquaintance in Self-Defense |
||
Alabama |
0 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
|
Alaska |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
Arizona |
0 |
0 |
0 |
42 |
|
Arkansas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
|
California |
2 |
1 |
0 |
178 |
|
Colorado |
0 |
1 |
0 |
21 |
|
Connecticut |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
|
Delaware |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Florida13 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Georgia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
46 |
|
Hawaii |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Idaho |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
Illinois |
0 |
0 |
0 |
49 |
|
Indiana |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
|
Iowa |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
Kansas |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Kentucky |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
Louisiana |
0 |
0 |
0 |
48 |
|
Maine |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
Maryland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
|
Massachusetts |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Michigan |
0 |
0 |
1 |
41 |
|
Minnesota |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Mississippi |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
|
Missouri |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
|
Montana |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Nebraska |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Nevada |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
|
New Hampshire |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
New Jersey |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
|
New Mexico |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
New York |
0 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
|
North Carolina |
1 |
0 |
0 |
59 |
|
North Dakota |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Ohio |
0 |
0 |
0 |
35 |
|
Oklahoma |
0 |
1 |
0 |
20 |
|
Oregon |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
|
Pennsylvania |
0 |
0 |
0 |
53 |
|
Rhode Island |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
South Carolina |
0 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
|
South Dakota |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Tennessee |
0 |
2 |
0 |
34 |
|
Texas |
0 |
1 |
1 |
124 |
|
Utah |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
Vermont |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Virginia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
34 |
|
Washington |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
|
West Virginia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
|
Wisconsin |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Wyoming |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
Total |
4 |
6 |
2 |
1,209 |
|
Table
Four offers a more detailed analysis of the 1998 incidents involving women who
used a handgun to kill a stranger in self-defense versus female handgun
homicides. The female victims murdered with a handgun, as well as women who
killed a stranger in self-defense, tended to be disproportionately black.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1998 12.1 percent of the U.S.
population was black.14 However, 42 percent of women murdered with a
handgun and 75 percent of women who killed a stranger in self-defense with a
handgun were black. Additionally, all the intruders that the women justifiably
killed and an overwhelming number of the offenders in female handgun homicides
were male. Finally, for both criminal and justifiable homicides, the majority
of victims and offenders were of the same race.
TABLE FOUR |
Women
who used a handgun to kill a stranger in self-defense |
Strangers
killed by a woman with a handgun in self-defense |
Women
murdered with a handgun |
Offenders
who murdered a woman with a handgun |
Number of people |
4 |
4 |
1,209 |
at
least 1,11015 |
Average age |
32.0 |
24.0 |
34.5 |
36.2 |
Race (where known) |
White -
25% Black - 75% Other - 0% |
White -
25% Black - 75% Other - 0% |
White -
55% Black - 42% Other - 3% |
White -
53% Black - 45% Other - 1% |
Gender |
. |
Male -
100% Female - 0% |
. |
Male -
96% Female - 4% |
Percent of incidents that were intra-racial16 |
50% |
92% |
Conclusion
Currently,
only a small minority of adult American women own a handgun. Before a woman
purchases a handgun for protection, she must pause to consider whether the
grave risk—in 1998, a woman was 101 times more likely to be murdered with a
handgun than to use a handgun to justifiably kill an attacker—is one she is
willing to accept.