Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck found that victims use handguns about 1.9 million times in self-defense. Criminals weigh the costs of the crime against the benefits. Research shows that robbery and rape victims who resist with a gun are only half as likely to be injured as those who don't. A recent study by John Lott and David Mustard of the University of Chicago published in the Journal of Legal Studies bears this out. Vermont has long had the least restrictive firearms-carry laws.
Citizens there can carry guns either openly or concealed without any permit.
Perhaps in part because of its liberal gun policies, Vermont has among the lowest violent crime numbers in the country. Yet FBI data show that killings stemming from arguments are falling as a share of all homicides. Of 21,000 carry permit holders, there was no reported incident of a permit holder injuring an innocent person. In that time, not one permit holder has been convicted of a crime, and violent crime has dropped. Opponents are left to argue that concealed-carry laws will put guns in untrained hands and accidents will go up.