On September 29, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) revised its firearms injury webpage to adjust its language, acknowledging the more frequent use of guns for self-defense than previously stated.
In August, the CDC reinstated data about the use of firearms in self-defense, which had been removed in 2022 during the Biden administration. The new wording on the site now offers a fresh estimate for “defensive gun uses” (DGU), correcting the misrepresentation from a prior survey that had a significantly low estimate.
According to the updated information, “Estimates of defensive gun use vary depending on the questions asked, populations studied, timeframe, and other factors related to study design. The report Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence indicates a range of 500,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year.” (RELATED: CDC Restores Study Acknowledging Self-Defense Gun Use Buried During Biden Era)
The previous version provided a significantly lower figure for the minimum estimate of DGUs.
The CDC Corrects its Post on Defensive Gun Uses The Trump administration restored the post as it originally appeared before the CDC removed it and has now corrected an error in the original version. https://t.co/AhFvHNuxJZ #2a #guns #dgu #guncontrol
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) October 5, 2026
The CDC had noted earlier on its website that estimates regarding defensive gun use differ based on several factors, linked to a report that summarized various surveys on the matter. Initially, the report suggested a range between 60,000 and 2.5 million defensive gun uses annually.
The Crime Prevention Research Institute pointed out that the NAS report did not clarify that the 500,000 figure pertained specifically to handguns, adding that the upper estimate reached 3.7 million. They noted this update is a significant improvement over what was previously published on the CDC’s website.
In 2022, following lobbying by anti-Second Amendment groups, notably those associated with Democratic Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the CDC removed information on these studies. This action came after it was claimed that having such data on the CDC’s site hindered efforts to garner support for gun control legislation.
Since 1996, Congress has barred the CDC from funding gun control advocacy after studies asserted that firearms in homes posed a greater risk than being used for self-defense. Critics have often pointed to a perceived bias among certain researchers against firearms.
A notable commentary came from Deborah Prothrow-Stith, a public health professor at Harvard in the 1990s, who expressed her aversion to guns, stating, “I hate guns and cannot imagine why anybody would want to own one. If I had my way, guns for sport would be registered, and all other guns would be banned,” according to Reason magazine.
The CDC faced backlash for its perceived role in promoting censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, America First Legal (AFL) released documents revealing the CDC’s collaboration with Twitter, Facebook, and Google to “censor free speech and promote Biden administration propaganda,” as stated by the organization.
