This illustrates the problem rather well. The case where I ready my weapon in preparation for violence vs. when I use my weapon to stop an anticipated threat ar

This illustrates the problem rather well. The case where I ready my weapon in preparation for violence vs. when I use my weapon to stop an anticipated threat are both preemptive uses of the weapon. The definition is unclear and one researcher may use one definition while another might use the other. Both cases are distinct, however. In one case, I am actually preemptively using the weapon and in the other, I am merely carrying it in anticipation of use. Part of the article is a discussion of the fact that such definitions are muddied and lost as statistics are looked at.