I guess you could claim it was anecdotal, but my dad, who grew up with a granddad who'd been a deputy US Marshall in the Cherokee strip and a dad who was equally comfortable with guns as a necessary tool on a ranch, knew of only two times in their lives in which they "took up arms." Both times in self-defence. In only one of those were shots fired resulting in my greatgranddad killing a neighbour who was shooting at him with some accuracy. He turned himself into the sheriff and was jailed for his own safety until an inquest found it was self-defence. But, even with am amazing number of saloons in the small town near where they settled, shoot-outs were mostly non-existent and leaders of the community took responsibility for keeping that so.

Unfortunately, the myths of shoot-outs are perpetuated through such events as are listed on THIS PAGE, though I am sure some of those are based on some historical facts.

Apologies if this has already been cited: The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth vs Reality