Originally Posted By: Denis
Based on these observations I see 2 possible explanations. One is that bear spray is more effective than firearms when defending against bear attacks. The other is an overwhelming amount of bears will only commit themselves to attacking those who choose to defend themselves with firearms. The former seems more likely to me.

I actually feel the second possibility is not that implausible. Of course it's unlikely that bears decide ahead of time to come after people with firearms. But it seems pretty plausible that what started as a test charge would turn into a committed attack if the bear is injured but not killed. Most people who use firearms are poorly trained and don't have appropriate firearms for killing bears. So they injure and aggravate the bear and it now feels it has to kill the human. Whether this hypothesis is true can be tested by comparing the number of injuries among general people with guns and among people who are well trained and use appropriate guns.

If that's true, then what's best depends on your skill level. If you don't know how to use the gun, then a better option is to use bear spray. If you do know how to use the gun, it may be better to use the gun.