CNF,
That's true and I'm glad you don't own a gun... but it is also a red herring.
A gun does not have to kill to prevent harm.
You can't balance who gets killed. You must balance the good against the harm.
For example... doctors cause a lot of deaths. So do nurses. I know a nurse who recently accidentally administered nitro to a trauma patient they weren't supposed to (they mixed up the nitro and dopamine bottles)...patient is dead now. There are perhaps 12,000 malpractice related deaths in the US every year. And of course we all know (or should know) about waived consent trials and the fact that the AutoPulse device trial probably killed 10 people alone... and that's just one of many trials that have and will be done. Should we do away with doctors? No. Why not? Because you balance the harm they do against the good they do.
Same thing with cars, airplanes, motorcycles, boats.... Many people die while using these things. We could make the world safer by outlawing them... but we instead balance the harm they do against the good they do.
Firearms do reduce crime. There is statistical evidence aplenty to support that assertion. There is anecdotal evidence as well. I won't take to burgling in part because I know that some percentage of the houses I might enter contain armed residents that will respond with force. Reduce that risk and I might be willing to take up burglary as a way to supplement my income... or, since it probably won't be me, a bunch of other people will. Increase the number of guns and you increase the risk of entry, decreasing the number of people willing to enter. That is the good you must balance against the risk of riding a motorcycl...err... owning a gun.
Which may make you wonder why I'm glad you don't own a gun....

Ride it like you think owning it matters.