by exploited » Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:27 am
You can estimate it based on surveys, but let's be real here: self-reported surveys are garbage, but especially so when it comes to guns. What you end up getting is lies, half-truths and blatant exaggerations. For every person who claims an unreported legitimate CCW use, there is another person either making it up, or pulling his gun on some poor dude wearing a hoodie walking down the road, who is mistakenly taken for a threat.
I believe John Lott tried to estimate this number, and he claimed millions of CCW uses per year. Of course his methodology was total garbage, but that's what he's known for.