A variety of polls show that there are at least 760,000, and possibly as many as 3.6 million, defensive uses of guns per year. In 98 percent of the cases, people simply brandished the weapon to stop an attack. In Canada and Great Britain, both of which have tough gun-control laws, almost half of all burglaries occur when the victim is at home. In the U.S., where greater gun ownership is still allowed, only 13 percent of burglaries occur while the owner is in his residence. Surveys have established that criminals are much more concerned about armed victims than about the police.
Guns are only one part of the larger child-proofing issue, according to analysts.
This has occurred because parents were less vigilent about safety due to lower perceived risk.