A study of 743 gunshot deaths by Dr. Arthur Kellermann and Dr. Donald Reay
published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that 84% of these
homicides occurred during altercations in the home. Only 2 of the 743 gunshot
deaths occurring in the home involved an intruder killed during an attempted
entry, and only 9 of the deaths were determined by police/courts to be justified
(FE Zimring, Firearms, violence, and public policy, Scientific American, vol.
265, 1991, p. 48). The evidence revealed in the Kellermann study is consistent
with data reported by the FBI. In 1993, there were 24,526 people murdered,
13,980 with handguns, yet only 251 justifiable homicides by civilians using
handguns. (FBI, Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports 1994, 1995).