Bear Attacks and Handgun Defense: What the Data Shows About Shots Fired

Summary

A study analyzing over 200 documented cases of handgun use in defense against bears found that 184 involved only handguns. Of 161 cases where the number of shots was known, 46 cases (28.6%) involved one shot, 22 cases (13.7%) involved two shots, and 19 cases (11.8%) involved three shots. Six or fewer shots were fired in 80.1% of known documented cases, with no documented failures when more than six shots were fired.