Well, I dropped by the library yesterday, and picked up back copies
of the National Crime Survey (1986-1990) in an effort to examine what
it said about self-defense with a firearm.

      I haven't ground through much in the way of numbers yet, but a couple
of things jumped out at me.  First only 1986 and 1987 specify the type of
weapon used in self defense.  1988, 1989, and 1990 refer only to "weapon."
The second is that while assaults rose about 3% from 1986 to 1987, w/gun
defenses reported *fell* by almost 25%.  Unless there's an explanation for
this, I'm tempted to mark it as a reporting problem, and as such going 
ahead with any examination of the numbers would be a waste of time.

      Anybody have an idea what might have cause a real difference, and
not just a reporting difference?  The survey doesn't appear to have
changed significantly between 1986 and 1987.
