The last thing you want to do is shoot someone because there are life-changing repercussions even if totally justified.
Fortunately, in 98% of defensive gun uses (DGUs), a shot is not fired.
Which means that a mouse gun is as good as a cannon 98% of the time.
Fact: Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year or 6,849 every day. Most often, the gun is never fired and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed.
Source: http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/7.1/Gun-Facts-7.1-screen.pdf, page 21.
Fact: A victim may have a strong reluctance to talk to a government agent about a firearm brandishing incident (which are 98% of DGUs) because they may not know the act was 100% legal.
Source: http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/7.1/Gun-Facts-7.1-screen.pdf, page 83.
In other words, the 98% number is probably low.
“In other words, the 98% number is probably low.”
It is. Other stats show a criminal shot with ANY caliber almost always stops the attack immediately.