To Protect or Not to Protect

A recent newspaper article regarding firearm-related deaths claimed that “Georgia received an F, reflecting what the organization describes as weak gun laws.” One of the primary citations came from Giffords.org, an organization openly hostile to civilian gun ownership.Giffords states:

“Gun violence claims the lives of 2,005 people every year on average in Georgia, with 45% of those deaths stemming from firearm homicide.”

That sounds alarming—until you look at what those numbers actually include.

Homicide vs. Murder: Words Matter

Homicide is a broad, neutral legal term meaning one person caused the death of another. Murder is a specific subset of homicide: unlawful, intentional killing.

• All murders are homicides

• Not all homicides are murders

Justified self-defense shootings, accidental deaths, and legally excusable killings are all categorized as homicide, even when no crime occurred. When studies cite “firearm homicide,” they often blur this distinction—intentionally or not.

What’s Missing From the Data

Many studies cited by advocacy groups do not account for legitimate defensive gun use (DGU). These incidents are difficult to track because:

• Law enforcement agencies do not categorize reports as “defensive gun use”

• Many incidents involve no shots fired

• Many are never reported because no crime occurred

• There is no mandatory reporting requirement for non-injury DGUs

Accidental firearm deaths—often caused by improper handling or negligence—are also rarely separated out. Instead, all of these outcomes are lumped together to produce headline-friendly percentages like the cited “45%.”

The Problem With “Gun Violence”

Another major flaw is the failure to clearly define “gun violence.”

Some organizations define it as “harm, injury, or death inflicted upon people through the use of firearms.” That definition includes:

• Suicides

• Murders

• Accidental shootings

• Lawful self-defense

By that logic, a homeowner stopping a violent intruder with a firearm is counted the same as a criminal homicide. Even the Gun Violence Archive tracks verified instances of firearms used in self-defense—but organizations like Giffords routinely ignore or exclude those data points.

The Suicide Statistic No One Likes to Mention

Giffords also states:

“In an average year, 2,005 people die from gun violence in Georgia.”

What’s often omitted is that approximately 52% of that number are suicides. Suicides—while tragic—are not crimes, are rarely influenced by gun laws alone, and are routinely counted as “gun violence” to inflate totals. The remaining deaths include homicides, accidents, and undetermined cases—many of which are legally justified. That framing is, at best, misleading.

The “Think of the Children” Argument

The article heavily emphasizes child access to firearms and references Georgia House Bill 1 (Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act), which would criminalize adults if children gain access to loaded firearms.

On the surface, this sounds reasonable. In reality:

• Enforcement would be nearly impossible except after tragedy occurs

• It adds criminal liability after the fact rather than preventing negligence

• You cannot legislate personal responsibility—or stupidity

Education, training, and parental accountability are far more effective than punitive laws layered onto an already complex legal system.

More Laws ≠ More Safety

Research suggests that existing firearm regulations may already mitigate some risk, but studies consistently show that the effects of individual gun laws are small, uncertain, and difficult to isolate. Adding more regulations to an already crowded, inconsistent, and confusing framework does little to reduce violence—and does much to restrict lawful gun owners from defending themselves and their families.

Laws don’t stop violence in real time.Prepared, trained, responsible individuals do.

More Guns. Less Guns. No Guns.

This debate isn’t new. It’s as familiar as Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge. Everyone has an opinion, and both sides argue loudly that their solution is the fix.

On one end are those who believe no private citizen should own firearms at all. On the other are those who stand firmly on the Second Amendment:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Between them are calls for “common sense gun laws.” Decades in, it’s clear this argument will not be settled to everyone’s satisfaction.

After every violent incident involving a firearm, the pattern repeats. Opponents call for more laws or outright confiscation. Supporters argue that armed, capable citizens can—and do—change outcomes. Both sides talk past each other.

So where is the middle ground?

What the Data Actually Says

In 1998, John R. Lott Jr. published More Guns, Less Crime, examining nationwide data on crime and gun laws. His conclusion: states that adopted “shall issue” concealed carry laws saw reductions in violent crime.

Lott also noted that several countries experienced increases in violent crime after banning firearms, while others with high gun ownership—such as Switzerland, Finland, Israel, and New Zealand—maintained low crime rates.

Critics challenged his findings. Some studies found little to no measurable impact from carry laws, and one suggested a temporary increase in aggravated assaults. The reality is this: the data is debated, incomplete, and often politicized.

What isn’t debated is that law-abiding citizens overwhelmingly are not the source of violent crime.

Georgia Law: What Is Actually Legal

Georgia is a Constitutional Carry state. Under the Georgia Constitutional Carry Act:

• Legal gun owners are allowed to carry handguns, open or concealed, without a state permit

• Must still be legally allowed to possess a firearm and cannot carry in prohibited locations

• No weapons carry license is required and If you have a valid weapons carry license from another state, Georgia law authorizes you to carry a weapon in Georgia, provided you do so in compliance with Georgia's specific laws

• Federal background check requirements are still in place

• Certain disqualifications remain in force

  
  

This is not “the Wild West.” It is a legal framework built around lawful possession and accountability.

The Reasonable Man

Self-defense is not about fear—it’s about reasonableness.

The reasonable person standard asks whether an average, rational person, with the same knowledge and circumstances, would believe force was necessary to stop an imminent threat.

It accounts for differences in age, size, capability, and context. What is reasonable for a young adult may not be the same for a senior citizen—and the law recognizes that.

Georgia’s stand-your-ground laws remove a duty to retreat when a person reasonably believes they face imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony.

Georgia law is clear:

A person may use force—including deadly force—only when they reasonably believe it is necessary to stop an imminent and unlawful threat.

This is not permission to act recklessly. It is permission to survive.

Defensive Gun Use - The Unseen Majority

Not all homicides are murders, and not all defensive gun uses involve pulling the trigger.

In fact:

• Most DGUs end without a shot fired

• Many are never reported because no crime occurred

• There is no mandatory reporting requirement for non-injury DGUs

  
  

As a result, exact numbers are impossible to calculate.

Conservative national surveys estimate tens of thousands of DGUs annually. Extrapolated to Georgia, that likely means thousands per year, with only a small fraction appearing in police reports or news stories.

Justified homicides—the rarest outcome—represent only a tiny subset of defensive gun use.

The absence of data does not mean the absence of impact.

The Reality:

You are your own first responder.

Police are critical—but they arrive after the event begins. Laws matter—but they do not stop violence in real time. What matters in the moment is awareness, judgment, and capability.

Training matters. Knowing the law matters. Responsibility matters.

Having a gun and not needing it is much better than needing one and not having it.

BE SAFE • BE EFFECTIVE • BE READY