Gun control advocates have a bad habit of attempting to rewrite history. Few of their revisionist efforts, however, have been as brazen as their campaign to strong-arm the Biden administration into scrubbing the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of accurate but inconvenient data on defensive gun uses. Now, as the Trump administration restores the agency’s longstanding acknowledgement of basic defensive gun use data, gun control advocates have audaciously declared it a “politically motivated” move to “inflate” defensive gun use numbers.
It’s hilariously bad faith framing, even for them.
For years, the CDC’s website included a small but objective and accurate section providing information on defensive gun use data and related research. It linked to a 2013 report commissioned by the CDC itself, and in a single sentence informed the public that the report “indicates a range 60,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year.” The CDC only removed this information from the website in 2022 at the behest of gun control advocates, who spent a year in private closed-door meetings with the agency, browbeating it with demands to erase the defensive gun use data for purely and blatantly political reasons. One prominent gun control activist went so far as to attack the data as something that “needs to be killed, buried, dug up, killed again and buried again.”
Their anger is somewhat ironic, given that the CDC’s original online characterization was arguably far more favorable to gun control advocates’ claims than the actual language of the 2013 report. Compared to the one-sentence website summary, for example, the report offered a more robust and positive assessment of the available research, including evidence that defensive gun use effectively decreases the risk of victim injuries. The website also neglected to include the report’s assessment that “defensive use of guns by crime victims is a common occurrence.”
The 2013 report, moreover, strongly downplayed the lower end of the defensive gun use estimate range, asserting that “almost all national survey estimates” actually fall within a range of 500,000 to 2.5 million incidents. It noted that only a few outlier scholars reached “radically lower estimates” of 60,000 to 120,000 times a year, based on a survey that didn’t even specifically ask about defensive gun use. More recent and comprehensive studies have only bolstered the evidence for annual defensive gun use numbers well into the 1-to-2.5 million range.
To celebrate the CDC’s “resurrection” of its buried defensive gun use data, here are some of the defensive gun use stories you probably missed last month (and that gun control advocates love to pretend rarely happen):
Sept. 1, Lehigh Acres, Fla. — A man with an extensive criminal history shoved another person to the ground during an argument that started when the victim ordered the man to leave his property. The man then stood over the victim and threatened him with a pickaxe, prompting the victim to shoot the man in self-defense. Police later arrested the pickaxe-wielding assailant for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Sept. 7, Birmingham, Ala. — Two intruders broke into a home and refused to leave even after the homeowner confronted them, leading to a physical altercation. The homeowner eventually armed himself and fired one round at the intruders in self-defense, grazing one and sending both fleeing. Police quickly apprehended the suspects, who each face charges for second-degree burglary and harassment. The suspect who allegedly drove the getaway vehicle faces an additional DUI charge.
Sept. 10, Kerrville, Texas — Police believe that a homeowner who shot and critically wounded a man did so in self-defense after the man came to his house and threatened him with a knife over an alleged debt.
Sept. 15, Orland Park, Ill. — Security camera footage captured the moment a concealed carry permit holder successfully turned the tables on a masked man who tried to rob him at gunpoint as he filled his tank at a gas station. The permit holder quickly drew a gun from his waistband and fired multiple shots at the would-be robber, who dropped his weapon and fled after sustaining a gunshot wound to the cheek. The 20-year-old suspect was later arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery, possession of a stolen weapon, and other weapons-related felonies.
Sept. 16, North Olmstead, Ohio — Local officials announced that they dismissed a murder charge initially filed against an 18-year-old who fatally shot his older brother, after finding that the evidence—including 911 recordings and witness statements—supported the young man’s claim that he acted to protect his mother, sister, and cousin when his brother attacked them.
Sept. 19, Anton Chico, N.M. — After an 18-year-old woman left her ex-boyfriend at a gas station during an argument, the ex-boyfriend stole a truck and chased the woman to a residence nearly 40 miles away. He ultimately drove away from the residence with the 18-year-old’s car, leaving her to wait for her mom to pick her up. As she and her mom drove home, they encountered the ex-boyfriend, who’d been waiting for them. He shot at their car and caused them to crash, then shot at the mother’s boyfriend when he showed up to help. The mother’s boyfriend, however, returned fire until he could “subdue” the gunman, whose criminal charges now include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and car theft.
Sept. 21, Bowman, Ga. — When the owner of a vacant house confronted a burglar whom he discovered on the property, the burglar decided to assault the owner rather than flee. The owner shot the combative burglar, who, in turn, reconsidered his stance on running away. The now-wounded suspect fled but didn’t make it far before police apprehended him.
Sept. 24, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. — Police say that two armed men broke into an Airbnb rental home and tried to rob the renter. The renter was also armed and exchanged gunfire with the intruders, critically injuring one and sending both fleeing. Police eventually arrested the two suspects for attempted murder and home invasion with a firearm.
Sept. 26, San Francisco, Calif. — A masked burglar—with a large husky in tow—broke into an elderly Vietnam vet’s home by drilling out the lock on his front door. The noise awakened the vet, who retrieved a handgun and shot the intruder after a brief altercation that left the vet with minor injuries. The wounded intruder fled, leaving his uninjured canine companion behind. Police found him about three miles away and arrested him.
Sept. 28, Indianapolis, Ind. — A woman shot and wounded a man who allegedly hit her with his car during an incident of domestic violence. Police arrested the man for domestic battery with a deadly weapon and, in consultation with local prosecutors, declined to pursue charges against the woman.
Sept. 29, Charlottesville, Va. — Two would-be burglars climbed their way onto a second-story balcony to force their way into an apartment, but were met by an armed resident who exchanged gunfire with them until they fled. Police quickly apprehended one suspect, who’d been shot in the chest, and are still searching for the other.
These armed victims are something far more than data points to be manipulated, buried, or strategically recast for political gain. Their stories prove to the world just what the right to keep and bear arms is worth in the situations where it’s needed the most.
Gun control advocates spent decades insisting that defensive gun uses are too rare to matter. When the data proved them wrong, they didn’t change their argument or their tune—they just lobbied the government to change its website. Now that Trump’s CDC has dug the numbers back up, these same gun control advocates can’t seem to remember who buried them in the first place. And every month, we’ll keep sharing fresh stories to bring to life the data that just won’t stay dead.