The other replies are correct, but I’ll just add that you’re mixing two things here: - self defense - robbery For self defense (including cases where the defen

The other replies are correct, but I’ll just add that you’re mixing two things here: - self defense - robbery For self defense (including cases where the defendant is being personally robbed) there is definitely a deterrent effect of guns. For robbery where the owner isn’t present (the case you replied to, and also the vast majority, obviously) there doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent.