One Handgun Present for all known Fatal Bear Attacks in North America

Handguns have been shown to be extremely effective at stopping bear attacks. This correspondent and colleagues have documented over 200 cases in North America where handguns were fired in defense against bears.  Handguns have been effective in about 98% of the cases. 

One objection to these findings is often stated this way: If a person is killed before the handgun is fired, you will not include the incident in your statistics, because the handgun was not fired. Fair enough. It is a limitation worth exploring. 

Wikipedia and others maintain a database of all the people who have been recorded as having been killed by bears in North America. It cannot include those who were killed by bears in pre-history. There is no reason to look for handgun incidents before the availability of cartridge handguns, about 1870. 

All the fatal bear attacks in North America which could be documented from 1870 on were examined by this correspondent.  From 1870 to present, there were 204. There was a single case where a handgun was present at the scene when the person was killed by a bear. This was the terrible case of Mark Uptain. He had a Glock Model 20 in a holster by his pack, without a round in the chamber. He was a professional guide processing an elk. The Glock was never fired because his client, who was able to access the handgun, did not know how to chamber a round. Mark Uptain was not able to access the Glock pistol. He was able to access a can of bear spray and was able to empty it. He was killed by the bear. 

Only one case out of over 200, and the handgun was not available to the victim. It was a remarkable finding.  

Everyone who has access to the Internet is welcome to check the Wikipedia listings and or any other documentation. Please let us know if you find any incident where a handgun was present when a bear killed a person in North America. The Uptain case is not included in our database of incidents where a handgun was fired in defense against a bear or bears. No weapon can be effective if it is not deployed. The difficulties of deploying handguns, bear spray, or other weapons are relatively similar. They can all be deployed in under two seconds with a little instruction and practice.

If a person does not have their defensive weapon on their person when they are attacked by a bear, the odds of a successful defense are greatly reduced. If they have practiced accessing their weapon and deploying it quickly, their odds of a successful defense are enhanced. The most recent defensive use of a handgun against a bear, by Lori Price near Skilak lake in Alaska, illustrated the advantage of practice. 

Modern handguns are extremely effective as defensive arms against both animal and human attackers. They are not magic talismans. The capabilities of modern handguns are greatly enhanced with practice and training. A single afternoon’s training increases the capability of a defender enormously. Spending time training after that increases a defender’s capability, with most gains being in the early stages. 

In today’s society, much capability can be gained by practice with a laser simulator, or simply by dry firing (practice without live ammunition), or by practice in drawing a handgun from a holster while the handgun is not loaded. We are fortunate that ammunition is relatively cheap compared to a hundred years ago. 

If you are going to carry a handgun for defense, spend some time and practice drawing the handgun from a holster without any ammunition in the firearm. It costs you very little. An afternoon’s practice will pay extreme dividends in capability and confidence. Instruction (often offered for free at local gun clubs) can help increase your ability to shoot accurately, in just a few hours. The more you do, the better you will become. Those first few hours are the most beneficial and the most cost effective. It can be a pleasant and interesting afternoon, well worth the effort.

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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