These 11 examples of defensive gun use undermine push for more gun control

By Emma Nietzsche and Amy Swearer | The Daily Signal

March is Women’s History Month, yet Congress appears ready to celebrate in the worst way possible by creating more barriers for women who seek to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

While COVID-19-related bills have taken up much of the national spotlight, several gun control bills are primed for passage this week in the House. This is hardly surprising, given that just last month, President Joe Biden called on Congress to enact a plethora of new federal gun legislation.

Unfortunately, however, none of these proposals is meaningfully directed at the root causes of gun violence. Many gun control advocates have fooled themselves — and far too many others — into believing that we create safer communities by placing increasingly burdensome restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Wikimedia Commons/Cimmerian praetor

President Biden last month called on Congress to enact a plethora of gun legislation, which would create new barriers for women who seek to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

The reality, however, is that firearms are used far more often for lawful purposes than they are used to commit acts of criminal violence.

Almost every major study on the issue found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times a year, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have good reason to believe that many of these defensive gun uses aren’t reported to police, much less make the local or national news.

For this reason, The Daily Signal each month publishes an article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read accounts from 2019 and 2020 here.)

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in February. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database.

  • Feb. 1, Memphis, Tennessee: A motorist was putting air in his tires at a gas station when a would-be carjacker jumped in the car and tried to use the remote starter, police said. When the driver leapt through the passenger-side window to stop the thief, he saw the man was armed. They fought over the gun until an armed customer drew his own firearm to defend the driver, spurring the carjacker to run.
  • Feb. 3, Las Vegas: A man with a history of violence against police tried to steal another man’s firearm at a gun range, prompting three armed employees to escort him from the building and call police. When twodeputy sheriffs arrived, the man attacked one of them with a screwdriver, stabbing her and breaking a bone in her face. Three employees and the second deputy drew their firearms, fatally shooting the attacker. Assistant Clark County Sheriff Brett Zimmerman told reporters that the employees’ actions “helped our officer and could’ve saved our officer’s life.”
  • Feb. 7, Mason, Tennessee: A woman used her firearm to defend herself from her boyfriend during an ongoing dispute. The man—who reportedly was armed and had made threats of violence in the past—got into an altercation with the woman earlier in the day at her workplace, police said, but left before officers arrived. Later, in the middle of the night, the boyfriend showed up at her home and confronted her again. By the time police responded to the woman’s call for help, she had fatally shot him.
  • Feb. 11, Molino, Florida: A married couple found two men on their property whom they believed were trying to break into their house. The two had pushed their disabled car behind the couple’s home after breaking into a neighbor’s truck, police said. The homeowner drew his handgun and detained the men while his wife called 911. When authorities arrived and arrested the men, they found loaded firearms, stolen items, and drugs in their car.
  • Feb. 13, Goldsboro, North Carolina: Two masked intruders forced their way into an apartment, demanded money, and shot a 73-year-old woman in the leg, police said. The woman’s 12-year-old grandson retrieved a firearm and shot at both intruders, who ran. Police soon caught a man with a gunshot wound who they suspected was one of the intruders. He died from the wound. His accomplice was not found.
  • Feb. 15, Aiken, South Carolina: An armed man knocked on the door of an elderly couple’s home and asked the woman who answered if she had seen his dog. When the woman said she hadn’t and tried to close the door, police said, the man pushed her down, forced his way inside, and pulled a knife on her. The woman’s husband, a Vietnam War veteran, grabbed a shotgun from a wall and used it to beat the intruder to death. The woman and her husband were injured but expected to recover.
  • Feb. 17, Scottdale, Pennsylvania: A resident who discovered a man in his garage used a garden tool to detain the intruder while waiting for police. The intruder knocked down and injured the responding officer, however. He tried to flee in the resident’s SUV, which he crashed as he backed down an embankment. A Marine Corps veteran, walking his dog, took notice of the thief as he tried to break into another home, police said. The veteran ordered his 4-month-old dog to attack the thief, then held him at gunpoint until police arrived to take him into custody.
  • Feb. 20, Metairie, Louisiana: When a man entered a gun store with a loaded firearm, the store owner asked him to unload the weapon. With little warning, police said, the man fired into the air and then at customers and employees, killing two and wounding two. Armed employees drew their own guns and killed him in a shootout before he could harm anyone else.
  • Feb. 23, Butte, Montana: A man was getting his kids ready for school when he heard gunshots. He grabbed his firearm and ran outside, where he saw a neighbor and his son struggling with a would-be car thief, police said. The man held the assailant at gunpoint. Police said the would-be thief had shot the neighbor in the hand before the neighbor’s son rushed out and tried to disarm him.
  • Feb. 27, Loveland, Colorado: Amid a heated child custody dispute, a woman brandished a handgun and threatened to kill her ex-husband. Fearing for his life and the lives of four other members of the household who were present, police said, the man retrieved his own firearm and fatally shot his ex-wife.
  • Feb. 28, Port Huron, Michigan: A homeowner shot an intruder in the neck early in the morning after she heard him entering her house, where she had a small child, police said.  Wounded, the intruder fled; officers quickly caught him.

Everyone wants communities that are safe from gun-related violence and to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves or others.

But the gun control bills currently before Congress would impose significant and unnecessary burdens on law-abiding Americans who, like those highlighted above, simply desire an effective means of protecting their rights and liberties.

Worse, these gun control bills would not meaningfully reduce the risk that those rights and liberties indeed will need protection. That makes them both constitutionally suspect and bad policy.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Cimmerian praetor

21 thoughts on “These 11 examples of defensive gun use undermine push for more gun control

  1. The laws and constitution do not matter to those who hold the majority, as the run our state as a democracy rather than a constitutional republic.

    If the VTGOP does not build an effective platform, get people involved, create an organization that is effective, efficient then NOTHING is going to change in Vermont.

    We have to be more clever than snakes and more innocent than doves. We have to stop being played and manipulated, letting them frame the conversations. Every candidate should be able to converse openly in hard left territory without offending and finding common American ground, much like Reagsn.

  2. People have to understand that logical arguments mean nothing. They are not making gun law changes to make society safer, that is the big lie.

    They are changing gun laws because the NWO can not take over a nation that is armed.

    When rino’s and NwO pimps run our government this is what you get. We need two parties that love America, not a puppet of the communist party on one side and half the team on the other playing for the United nations.

  3. The number #1 reason the second amendment was established and ranks so high in the “The Bill of
    Rights” is to oppose government tyranny and insure your natural rights as an individual. The founders of this country were brave outstanding men of reason and wisdom. They knew from history, (yes there once was such a thing), that the greatest threat to individual freedom would be from within the established government not from a foreign entity. They were also aware that technology always advanced, rock, club, spear, bow & arrow, musket, repeating rifle, lasers. Get the picture? The Second Amendment does not single out guns. It establishes and codifies the individual citizens right keep to bear arms. Arms are historically and universally understood to be any weapon capable of being used offensively and defensively in combat. Battle flags displayed the Coat of Arms, the military command “present arms, etc.. The Second Amendment also establishes and codifies that those rights “shall not be abridge”. Abridged means shortened, diminished, curtailed, or altered. The leftists will try to use language to corrupt and change the meaning of any established law they disagree with, an example would be, “assault rife”, etc. But by doing that they make the very point of The Second Amendment. They profess concern for school children, They could care less about anything or anybody but perpetuating their own power and imposing their tyrannical will on society. That is what “Gun Control” is actually about. The razor wire fortification of The U.S. Capitol is nothing more than an attempt to terrify the public into thinking that American patriots are extreme radicals who are planning an armed coup and “Gun Control” is an urgent necessity. You must be disarmed in order for them to succeed.

  4. Why are legislators so afraid of citizens owning guns ? Countries that have totalitarian rule first disarmed their citizens and then did what they wanted. I find it hard to believe that the over hundred million gun owners in the United States will let that happen. I honestly believe that our country is going to really fight back once these ” lawmakers ” go too far.

  5. The truth and facts must not get in the way of the civilian disarmament agenda, they could care less about guns ,it’s About Control.

  6. I’ll re-introduce this again in case it was missed

    Mark Robinson “I’m the Majority” “We’re gonna keep ’em, Come Hell or High Water!”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftwVTohJJlU (4:32)
    Mark Robinson Greensboro North Carolina Gun Owner: “I’m the Majority” We the Majority need to take a page out of Mark Robinson’s play book, Stand up Speak up and beat these “Loonies from the Left” at their own game! We want our RIGHTS and, by God, we’re gonna keep ’em, Come Hell or High Water! Share this because people damn sure won’t see it on the biased lame stream “Fake News”.

    But no one like Baruth (afraid of clothing hunters wear) and gun control expert will understand anything with common sense.

    • Mark Robinson got involved in politics and was elected the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina.

    • Mark Robinson is now the Lt. Governor of North Carolina. Wonderful to have a upstanding man like him in high office.

  7. At the end of the day, the Second Amendment is crystal clear so any attempts to infringe upon this – or any other – constitutionally protected rights are futile. American citizens are under no obligation to abide by overtly unconstitutional “laws.” However, we are obliged to, by whatever means necessary, defeat such tyrannical efforts.

  8. Legislators push for, more gun control……Why and why now ??

    As we all know we have hundreds if not thousands of gun laws already,
    and millions of gun owners, that follow these current laws so why do we
    need more laws, No real reason just an agenda?

    Laws, that are ” never ” followed by criminals or people with bad intent, but in
    today’s society, they want to defund the police, push the early release of criminals
    not the pillars of society, they let riots and looting happen…… so why now ??

    So our elected officials keep trying to hinder its citizens from a right given to them in
    the Constitution, the same Constitution they took an oath to uphold, but instead they
    are trying to eliminate this document and what it stands for, traitors comes to mind.

    Gun Control, those that have them can control, and the NWO doesn’t want you to
    have that control, wake up, people…..it’s all propaganda and money, and power to
    control !!

    To all the women of the state, learn to protect yourself, your life depends on it, and don’t
    let politicians tell you your safe, just looks a the laws they write, you’re not their concern
    their agenda is !!

  9. Unfortunately this article left what were the two laws that passed the House.

    The first measure would close a long-standing loophole in gun laws by expanding background checks to those purchasing weapons over the internet, at gun shows and through certain private transactions.

    The second bill would give authorities 10 business days for federal background checks to be completed before a gun sale can be licensed. Currently, such sales can proceed it the government can not complete background checks of prospective buyers within three days.

    • Sir, this may have passed in the House but that does not make it “law.” Bills must pass the entire legislature then be signed by the governor in order to become law. Notwithstanding, this effort is overtly unconstitutional so, despite their tyrannical efforts, this cannot become law and so no American citizens need to obey.

    • I love it when people like you show your ignorance of the issue at hand. All internet sales have to go through licensed firearms dealers. You cannot buy a gun on the internet and have it delivered to your house, got it. You can buy a firearm from a dealer or private seller but it has to be shipped to another dealer and the buyer has to go through the background check.

      If anyone sells or loans a firearm to anyone that is restricted by law to own or posses one the person selling or loaning is in violation of federal and state laws and it is a felony. Now here’s the problem with the instant check system. It’s only as good as the people imputing the information into the national system. Even if the system was perfect, criminals with felony or domestic abuse convictions do not get their guns from federal dealers. Criminals buy guns from other criminals or steel them.

      There are currently 20,000 state local and federal firearms laws already passed by congress and legislatures. I’m sure one or a few more will really make a difference. If laws worked there wouldn’t be any criminals, no drugs, no rape or any other crimes. The cause of crimes and mayhem are criminals who do not care or abide by any laws so the legislature goes on to control the people who are not the problem so they feel better because they did something. If the government enforced current laws this discussion wouldn’t be necessary.

      • I want to expand my thoughts on the instant background system. 50 states are imputing criminal records into the system. To be 100% affective the national 50 state information has to be updated everyday. Imagine the volume of information needed to make this system work. Each day in America there are criminal cases being ended in courtrooms throughout the country in big cities, big states, little cities and towns everywhere. The volume is over whelming, it can’t work period. The system is also overwhelmed with requests daily and this is not the problem of a person who is legally trying to buy a firearm. There are mistakes, people with the same name, cities and towns that do not immediately report their data. Of course we all know the government doesn’t make mistakes. In the meantime, the 2nd amendment located in the Bill of Rights #2 out of ten states, “the right of the people to keep and bare arms, shall not be infringed”. Life is dangerous and we do not get our freedoms from government. We have a natural right to protect ourselves and those we love.

      • Dano and Alan,

        Was doing no more than trying to fill in a gap in this story regarding gun control laws that were talked about about in the article but not described. What I posted were quotes on how the laws were explained in a story from U.S. News, not any comment for or against. Here is the link:
        https://www.usnews.com/news/article/2021-03-11/us-house-passes-two-democratic-backed-gun-control-bills
        People can if they chose post fuller, better descriptions. Always good to know what the bills actually say that are in the process of perhaps becoming law .

        • No, that most definitely isn’t what you were doing, as Dano clearly pointed out. Please tell us, John, how you’re going to fix the following issues that Vermont has wrt inputting data into the FBI’s NICS system:

          As of 31 December, 2020, Vermont had the following number of records in the background check system:

          1. Unlawful user of controlled substance – 9
          2. Illegal alien – 0
          3. Protection/Restraining Order for Domestic Violence – 0
          4. Domestic Violence Conviction – 2

          Bang-up job the State is doing, wouldn’t you say? What’s adding a week to the background check process going to do when the State can’t be bothered to enter the information required to conduct a proper check?

          Like it or not, users of marijuana, medicinal or otherwise, are prohibited from purchasing firearms by federal law, and those found in possession should have their names entered into the NICS database.

          Every year we hear about the horror stories regarding domestic violence – yet the State can’t be bothered to input the names of the guilty into the FBI’s background check system?

          • Actually Zeke I don’t have a dog in this fight, Simply trying to add missing information on what the bills were that passed the House that were left out of this article.
            Should have quoted a better source than U.S. News. Thought they were pretty credible, but appears they could have done a better job explaining what was in the bills.

    • # 1 There is no loophole at gun shows all transactions must go thru the federal background check. They do it right there at the gun show on a cell phone.

      #2 There is no internet loophole, if you purchase and pay for a firearm from a dealer on a web site the weapon CANNOT BE SHIPPED TO YOU DIRECTLY. It must be shipped to a Federally Licensed Firearms dealer where you pick it up and again go thru the federal firearms background check. That being said the present back ground checks are un constitutional. The government is not delegated the authority by our Constitution to compel us to waive our guaranteed 4th Amendment right to be secure from unwarranted interrogation, search, or seizure in the absence of probable cause of criminal conduct. Or compel us to waive our guaranteed 5th Amendment right to due process as a precondition to being allowed (or denied) the exercise of our right to keep and bear arms. This violation of our 4th and 5th Amendment rights happens every time that we are interrogated under penalty of perjury without probable cause that a crime has been committed when we fill out B.A.T.F.E form 4473 to purchase a firearm. The purpose of compelled background checks as a precondition to allowing or denying the transfer of a firearm is to deceive firearm owners and prospective owners into unknowingly waiving their rights guaranteed by the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 10th and 14th Amendments so they will have no rights left to claim when the government decides to register and confiscate our firearms. We have a right to keep and bear arms, not a privilege to keep and bear arms. THE CONSTITUTION MATTERS !

  10. The same people who want to open up the prisons, allow illegal aliens into the country, and defund the police, are the same ones who want to make certain that you have no means to defend yourself. They also happen to be the same ones who are hiding behind tall fences with razor wire guarded by both National Guard, Secret Service, and Capital Police who are all armed with automatic and semiautomatic weapons.

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