Documented handgun-defense cases involving black bears and polar bears show a clear pattern: most incidents were resolved with six shots or fewer, though warning shots produced mixed results.
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Documented cases of handgun defense against black bears and polar bears show most known-shot-count incidents involved six shots or fewer. | SW686 SSR 357 Magnum IMG Jim Grant
In the continuing study of how effective handguns are when used as a defense against bears, I posted two articles on Ammoland showing the distribution of the number of cases vs the number of shots fired. The first article was for the statistics for all cases, which included brown bears, black bears and polar bears. The second article separated out the statistics for brown bears. Unsurprisingly, ursus arctos (brown bears, grizzly bears and Kodiak bears) showed more shots being fired per case than black bears and polar bears.
This article shows the statistics for black bears and polar bears. There were 63 cases where only handguns were fired in defense against black bears. In 57 of those case, the number of shots were known. In six cases, the number of shots fired was not shown in the documentation. In 1 case, the effect of shots could not be determined. In 1 case, the use of the handgun did not stop the bear attack. Here is the distribution:
1 shot – 25 cases 43.9% of the cases where the number of shots is known. 3 cases involved warning shots. In two cases warning shots were successful, in one case the warning shot was unsuccessful.
2 shots – 9 cases 15.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were involved in 4 cases. In 3 cases the warning shots were successful (1 temporary), in 2 cases they were unsuccessful.
3 shots – 6 cases 10.5% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were involved in 4 cases. In 2 cases they were successful, in 2 cases they were unsuccessful.
4 shots – 1 case 1.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. The case did not involve warning shots
5 shots – 3 cases 5.3% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were fired in one case and were not successful. This case is the only case where use of a handgun was unsuccessful in stopping the attack.
6 shots – 4 cases 7.0% of the cases where the number of shots is known., In the 1 case involving a warning shot, It was temporarily successful. After the husband left with the handgun (a .22 rimfire) to go get help, the bear returned and killed Darcy Staver in a predatory
attack.
The number of cases where six shots or less were fired is 48 or 84.2%.
7 shots – 3 cases 5.3% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were fired in 1 case. They were unsucessful.
8 shots – 2 cases 3.5% of the cases where the number of shots is known. There were no warning shot cases.
9 shots – 1 case 1.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. There were no warning shots recorded.
10 shots – 1 case 1.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. There were no warning shots recorded.
12 shots – 1 case 1.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. There were no warning shots recorded.
18 shots – 1 case 1.8% of the cases where the number of shots is known. There were no warning shots recorded.
There were 6 cases where an unknown number of shots were fired. In 1 case of those cases it is unknown if warning shots were fired.
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The number of cases where only handguns were used to defend against polar bears is much smaller, only 12 cases. In 11 cases, the number of shots was recorded. In one case the number was not recorded. In the 12 cases there were two cases where shots fired from a handgun did not stop the aggressive behavior of the bear(s). One of those is the case where a .22 handgun was used in defense against a polar bear. That case is the only recorded case where a human was killed by the bear when a handgun was fired in defense against a bear. The other case is where warning shots were fired from a .44 magnum in an attempt to drive off polar bears, but the bears did not react to the shots. No humans or polar bears were injured in that case. With such a small number of cases, the distribution of shots does not have much statistical value.
Here is the distribution of the 11 cases:
1 shot – 3 cases 27.3% of the cases where the number of shots is known, no warning shots were recorded.
2 shots – 2 cases 18.2% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots fired in 1 case which was unsuccessful. No people or bears were injured.
3 shots – 3 cases 27.3% of the cases where the number of shots is known. No warning shots were recorded.
5 shots – 2 cases 18.2% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were fired and were unsuccessful in one case.
6 shots – 1 case 9.1% of the cases where the number of shots is known. Warning shots were fired and were unsuccessful. This is the case of a .22 rimfire handgun used in the Svalbard archipelago. One man was killed and one severely injured.
In 100% of known cases six shots or fewer were fired. There was 1 case where the number of shots fired was not recorded. No warning shots were used. In the experience of the government of the Svalbard Archipelago, warning shots are recommended. Most cases of warning shots are not recorded in publicly available materials.
If you wish to read about each case individually, they are available from the following links:
Handguns Proven 98% Effective in 205 Documented Bear Attacks
Handgun or Pistol Against Bear Attacks 104 cases, 97% Effective
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
