When you’re attacked, you don’t get to pick the time or place. The criminal does. The only thing you control is how you respond: do you resist, or do you comply?
This isn’t a theoretical debate. The statistics paint a very clear picture of what happens when victims resist, comply, or fight back with a firearm. Former prosecutor Tom Grieve broke down these numbers on his podcast, and the results are eye-opening.
Criminals and Their Weapons
- About 26% of violent crimes involve a dangerous weapon.
- Only 10% of attackers overall carry a firearm.
- Many “crime guns” are unreliable: in one study of 85 seized firearms:
- 10% were completely inoperable
- 20% malfunctioned frequently
- 28% weren’t loaded
- 41% total were nonfunctional
Translation: not every “armed criminal” is truly armed in the way you might think.
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Fake Guns Are Common
A 1990 study found that 15% of armed robberies involved toy guns, BB guns, or air guns.
Even so, in the moment you can’t tell the difference — and that’s exactly why attackers use them.
Victim Injuries and Gunshot Wounds
- Nonfatal firearm attacks produced only a 3% gunshot wound rate for victims.
- U.S. ERs treated 57,000 nonfatal gunshot wounds from assaults in one year.
The numbers show two realities: firearms in crimes are often unreliable, but the consequences are still devastating when they do function.
Defensive Gun Use (DGU)
- The CDC estimates 500,000 to 3 million defensive gun uses per year.
- In John Lott’s study, 98% of defensive gun uses ended with the attacker fleeing when the firearm was displayed — not fired.
A firearm is the ultimate force equalizer.
Resistance Outcomes – Women
- Women who offer no resistance are 2.5× more likely to be seriously injured than those who resist with a firearm.
- Women who resist with a firearm are 4× less likely to be seriously injured than women who resist without one.
Resistance Outcomes – Men
- Men who comply are 1.4× more likely to be injured than those who resist with a firearm.
- Men who resist without a firearm are 1.5× more likely to be injured than those who resist with one.
The Bottom Line
Untrained, unarmed resistance increases your risk of serious injury.
The best outcomes are consistently found among those who are:
- Trained
- Prepared
- Carrying a firearm
Training isn’t about “checking a box.” It’s about shifting your odds. You don’t want to be part of the average victim group the statistics measure. You want to stand outside that group — prepared, equipped, and dangerous to anyone who tries to harm you.
>>> Data credit: Tom Grieve Podcast
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