Fact check: Are you likely to be shot with your own firearm?
- A claim is often circulated that firearm owners are four times more likely to be shot with their own weapon than the other way around
- However, there is no reliable data to back up this claim
- The claim dates back to a 1999 study, but the researcher who conducted the study says that his findings do not support the conclusion
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The claim that it is four times more likely that you will be shot with your own firearm than you it is that you will successfully use your gun in self-defence is widely shared online.
Research from 1999 and 2000 is often used to back up this stats.
However, there is in fact no reliable data to support this claim.
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This claim has been shared widely - in safety campaigns, on social media and on via various media outlets, Briefly.co.za has gathered. The stat is often linked to research done by Antony Altbeker almost two decades ago.
However, Altbeker himself says that his research does not support the claim, according to AfricaCheck. His study found that people who used a firearm during a home invasion were four times more likely to be fired upon by assailants than those who did not. However, this is a very different to the claim that your own firearm is likely to be used against you.
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Additionally, Altbeker admits that his study as "data quality issues", meaning that even if his findings did support the claim, the study is not reliable enough to draw solid conclusions from.
Furthermore, there are no more recent studies to support the initial claim. In other words, the stat that you are four times more likely to have your own gun used against you than the other way around is not accurate.
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Source: Briefly News
