The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its webpage regarding firearm injury on Sept. 29 to correct verbiage that underestimated the frequency with which guns are used for self-defense.
The CDC had restored information regarding studies of the use of firearms for self-defense on its website in August, reversing a 2022 move made during the Biden administration. The updated verbiage on the site provides a new estimate on “defensive gun uses” (DGU), which had previously been skewed by a survey with a low estimate of DGUs that was later found to have problems.
“Estimates of defensive gun use vary depending on the questions asked, populations studied, timeframe, and other factors related to study design. The report Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence indicates a range of 500,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year,” the site now displays. (RELATED: CDC Restores Study Acknowledging Self-Defense Gun Use Buried During Biden Era)
The site previously used a much lower figure as the low end of the range of estimates on DGUs.
The CDC Corrects its Post on Defensive Gun Uses The Trump administration restored the post as it originally appeared before the CDC removed it and has now corrected an error in the original version. https://t.co/AhFvHNuxJZ #2a #guns #dgu #guncontrol— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) October 5, 2026
“Estimates of defensive gun use vary depending on the questions asked, populations studied, timeframe, and other factors related to study design,” the CDC previously said on its website, while linking to a report summarizing surveys regarding defensive gun use. “The report Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence indicates a range of 60,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year.” . . .
Federal agencies work on prevention. Once an attack is underway, though, the first person able to respond is usually whoever is already standing there. The Crime Prevention Research Centercounted 20.88 million concealed carry permit holders in its 2025 report. That figure doesn’t capture permitless carriers in the 29 constitutional carry states, where CPRC says 46.8 percent of Americans now live. CPRC’s own polling suggests nearly a third of voters carry a concealed handgun at least some of the time. . . .
“Rasmussen: 41% of Voters See Foreign Terror as Top Threat,” The Truth About Guns, October 13, 2026.
Gov. Hochul and Mayor Mamdani have been screeching and hollering about ICE following the shooting of Belgal, with Mamdani calling the agency “rotten to its core,” but it’s their own policies that are rotten, as Crime Prevention Research Center founder John R. Lott Jr. noted . . .
Ezra brought up U.S. scholar Dr. John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, who argues from a purely pragmatic standpoint that mass shooters are generally only stopped when someone with a firearm arrives. Ezra said that is why he sees an argument for private firearms ownership, noting that in Israel and the United States armed bystanders have stopped attackers before police arrived. . . .
As John Lott has pointed out, in the 1,000 odd school districts that do allow staff to carry and are not “gun free zones”, there has not been a shooting on school grounds during school hours in well over two decades. And we know that the Annunciation school shooter in Minneapolis last year specifically chose the Catholic school because it was a “gun free zone where nobody could resist him. . . .
These are estimates from existing research, rather than findings from a new CDC survey. The agency explains that results differ depending on survey questions, populations, timeframes, and study design.
In an October 5 article, the Crime Prevention Research Center welcomed the correction. CPRC argues that the earlier lower figure inadequately reflected problems with National Crime Victimization Survey estimates.
Internationally-recognized firearms researcher and author Dr. John Lott, founder and president of the Montana-based Crime Prevention Research Center, was honored during this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) as the recipient of the “Gun Rights Defender of the Year” by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Lott gained national attention with the publication of his book More Guns, Less Crime almost 28 years ago. It offered a much-welcomed contrast to arguments by gun prohibitionists that increasing private gun ownership would result in an increase in deadly violent crime. Almost three decades later, Lott’s original contention appears to be vindicated with violent crime data showing a significant decrease, while American gun ownership has been expanding.
“It’s been almost exactly 30 years,” Lott said, “since my first research got attention in August 1996. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s been 30 years since I’ve been involved in this effort. I greatly appreciate this, and the support from all of you makes the type of research that we do possible. Thank you.”
“John Lott is a person we all know,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and quite frankly over the years he has done extra work this past year, and without his efforts, the gun rights movement would not have the ammunition to win all of its battles.”
The presentation occurred during the 41st annual GRPC held in Dallas, Texas. The annual conference brings together the leaders in America’s Second Amendment movement, together with grassroots activists from across the country. CCRKBA co-hosts the event with its sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation.
Dr. Lott has appeared at previous conferences, and his presentations have always been informative and loaded with information.
CDC Issues Correction After Previously Lowballing Data On Guns Used For Self-Defense
— The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its webpage regarding firearm injury on Sept. 29 to correct verbiage that underestimated the frequency with which guns are used for self-defense.
— The CDC had restored information regarding studies of the use of firearms for self-defense on its website in August, reversing a 2022 move made during the Biden administration. The updated verbiage on the site provides a new estimate on “defensive gun uses” (DGU), which had previously been skewed by a survey with a low estimate of DGUs that was later found to have problems.
— “Estimates of defensive gun use vary depending on the questions asked, populations studied, timeframe, and other factors related to study design. The report Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence indicates a range of 500,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year,” the site now displays.
The site previously used a much lower figure as the low end of the range of estimates on DGUs.
The Crime Prevention Research Center points out that 94 percent of mass shootings in America happen in ” gun-free zones, ” like Silver Rail Elementary. It’s well documented that killers search for those gun-free zones. . . .
And from Michael Bloomberg’s The Trace
The Trace reported last month that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had added a claim to its web page on firearm injury and death prevention stating that Americans use guns defensively an estimated 60,000 to 2.5 million times each year. On September 28, the CDC updated the defensive gun use estimate again, swapping out the lower number for a much higher one: 500,000.
The CDC did not state why they updated the number. They did not respond to The Trace’s request for comment. . . . .
Devin Hughes, who runs GVPedia, a nonprofit gun violence research outfit, had lobbied the CDC for the removal of the defensive gun use estimates in 2022. He told us in July that their reinsertion was “disappointing but unsurprising.” These latest changes, he told The Trace, are a major setback.
“Now search engines and AI chatbots will repeat the CDC’s false figure to Americans trying to make honest decisions about gun safety,” he said.
The September update was first reported by John Lott, an economist and gun researcher whose conclusions have been debunked by experts. Lott has been a strong proponent of expanding the figures on defensive gun use. . . .
According to research published by John Lott, gun-control advocates had pressured federal officials to remove the estimates because they were frequently cited by Second Amendment organizations in policy debates.
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