i read that in the majority of cases of self defense- the gun wasn’t even fired- just the presence of a gun scared off would be attackers-
Some time back, I witnessed a domestic violence encounter outside of a hotel after a wedding. An attendee managed to end it quickly by pulling his gun out of the trunk of his car, as this guy was beating the crap out of his girlfriend in the hotel parking lot. He had her by the hair as she sat on the ground against the exterior wall, just wailing on her. He yelled, “Hey, stop!”, pointed the gun, and the guy bolted. That was enough to scare him off.
Good thing too, because not only was it illegal to carry at the time in my state, AT ALL, he had no ammo, no magazine. The cops were called, report filed, but everyone was mum about the gun. No sense in the hero being arrested while the perp was nowhere to be found.