NCJ Number
150102
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
In 1992, for each time a woman used a handgun to kill a stranger in justifiable self-defense, 239 female lives ended in handgun homicides, according to unpublished justifiable homicide statistics of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Abstract
During the year, 37 States reported no instances of handgun justifiable homicides by women. The ratio of homicides to justifiable homicides in States that recorded justifiable homicides ranged from Florida's high of 113:1 to Oregon's low of 12:1. The number of justifiable homicides committed by private citizens totaled 348 in 1992; 45 (13 percent) were committed by women. Firearms were used in 31 (69 percent) of the 45 justifiable homicides committed by women, and handguns were used in 26 (58 percent) of these homicides. In 1992, 4,993 women were homicide victims; 2,479 (50 percent) involved firearms and 1,908 (38 percent) involved handguns. Most justifiable homicides involving women did not fit the stereotype of a single woman defending herself against a predatory stranger. When women killed in self-defense, the attacker was far more likely to be someone known to them than a stranger. 3 tables