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Award winning criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck, of the Florida State University (FSU), has compiled extensive data from polls and crime statistics. In Analysis of incident files of 1979-1985 National Crime Survey, he published the following:
Attack, Injury and Crime Completion Rates in Robbery
Incidents
Based on Method of Self Protection Employed by Victim
Method of % Completed % Attacked % Injured Num Times Self Protection Used(a) Used gun 30.9 25.2 17.4 89,009 Used Knife 35.2 55.6 40.3 59,813 Used other weapon 28.9 41.5 22.0 104,700 Used physical force 50.1 75.6 50.8 1,653,880 Tried to get help or frighten offender 63.9 73.5 48.9 1,516,141 Threatened or reasoned with offender 53.7 48.1 30.7 955,398 Nonviolent resistance, including evasion 50.8 54.7 34.9 1,539,895 Other measures 48.5 47.3 26.5 284,423 Any self-protection 52.1 60.8 38.2 4,603,671 No self-protection 88.5 41.5 24.7 2,686,960 Total 65.4 53.7 33.2 7,290,631 Completed = % of time the crime is not interrupted by victim action. Attacked = % of crimes that proceed sufficiently to involve physical attack on the victim. Injured = % of crimes in which the victim sustains injury.
Num Times Used = how many crimes involved the given method of self-protection. It adds up to a higher number than the total since often more than one form of resistance is offered.
Attack, Injury and Crime Completion Rates in Assault
Incidents
Based on Method of Self Protection Employed by Victim
Method of % Attacked % Injured Estimated Self Protection Num Times Used Used gun 23.2 12.1 386,083 Used Knife 46.4 29.5 123,062 Used other weapon 41.4 25.1 454,570 Used physical force 82.8 52.1 6,638,823 Tried to get help or frighten offender 55.2 40.1 4,383,117 Threatened or reasoned with offender 40.0 24.7 5,743,008 Nonviolent resistance, including evasion 40.0 25.5 8,935,738 Other measures 36.1 20.7 1,451,103 Any self-protection 49.5 30.7 21,801,957 No self-protection 39.9 27.3 6,154,763 Total 47.3 29.9 27,956,719
Attacked = % of crimes that proceed sufficiently to
involve physical attack on the victim.
Injured = % of crimes in which the victim sustains injury.
Num Times Used = how many crimes involved the given method of
self-protection. It adds up to a higher number than the total
since often more than one form of resistance is offered.
Notes: "Significantly, Dr. Kleck notes that the victimization surveys actually exaggerated the association of injury with gun-resistance since the surveys generally fail to ask whether the injury occurs after and because of resistance or whether the injury occurred first. In a supplemental questionnaire, however, it was found that most injuries to armed resisters preceded their resistance: "For cases involving robbery and attack, forceful self-protection actions never preceded the attack ... even the minority of the cases where forceful self-protective acts were accompanied by attacks on the victim, few incidents support the contention that the victim's defensive action provoked the attack."
As Dr. Kleck puts it in his study: "When victims use guns to resist crimes, the crimes usually are disrupted and the victims not injured."
For further information
visit the Missouri Concealed Carry website at www.moccw.org or send email to 
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