Handguns vs. Bears: Shot Counts From Black Bear and Polar Bear Defense Cases

Summary

A study on handgun defense against black bears and polar bears analyzed shot counts, finding that 84.2% of 57 documented black bear defense cases involved six shots or fewer. For black bears, 43.9% of cases were resolved with a single shot, and only one case using a handgun was unsuccessful in stopping the attack out of 63 total cases. The article also provides a partial overview of 12 polar bear defense cases.