Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use

This document analyzes the most recent federal data available, which shows that private citizens use guns to harm themselves or others far more often than to kill in self-defense. The study analyzes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) and cites survey data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). It finds that in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, there were only 224 justifiable homicides involving a private citizen using a firearm reported to the SHR. Eighteen states reported zero justifiable homicides in 2014. That year, there were 7,670 criminal firearm homicides.