Title: 'In the Safety of Your Own Home': Results From a National Survey on Gun Use at Home

Publication Date: January 2000

What does it say?

This study looked at a national survey on gun use in the home and found that guns are more likely to be used to intimidate and threaten family members than for self-defense. Hostile gun displays are often used to intimidate and threaten women in acts of domestic violence.

Additionally, the study notes that: “a household without a gun is not unarmed and that weapons such as baseball bats and knives are more commonly used to thwart home crime”

The study concludes that: “it is more likely that a gun used in the home will be used against a family member than to protect a family member.”

How can I use it?

This study is consistent with several others that found that guns are more likely to be used in cases of domestic violence than in the self-defense of a household and its members. It is important to enforce existing law and universal background checks and ensure that guns are taken out of the hands of those who may be a danger to family members, such as those convicted of domestic abuse or subject to restraining orders.

Citation

Azrael, Deborah and David Hemenway., “'In the Safety of Your Own Home': Results From a National Survey on Gun Use at Home,” Social Science and Medicine 50(2) (2000): 285-291

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