That left us with 170 incidents. Each dot represents one incident.

As we combed through, we eliminated 109 incidents because the firearm used in self-defense was not an AR-style rifle.

In 13 incidents, the person wielding a firearm in self-defense was either a prohibited possessor or a minor. We didn’t include those because neither group could legally own or carry such firearms.

And in five incidents, it was unclear if the AR-style rifle was used or who it belonged to.

That left 51 incidents over a nine-and-a-half-year span in which legal gun owners brandished or used an AR-style rifle to defend life or property. That averages out to around five per year.