A Deadly Myth: Women, Handguns, and Self-Defense

This VPC report, which analyzes 1998 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR), indicates that 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, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 101 women were murdered with a handgun. The report concludes that before a woman purchases a handgun for protection, she must consider "whether the grave risk (…) is one she is willing to accept."