A report released on April 3 states, “…[A]rmed citizens reduce the number of deaths in active-shooter incidents significantly more than the police do. In fact, armed citizens reduce the number of people killed by 49 percent, while the police increase the number killed by 16 percent in comparison to the omitted class (shooters who are arrested later or stopped by unarmed citizens or stop of their own accord).”
In addition, “Civilians with permits stopped the attacks more frequently and faced a lower risk of being killed or injured than police. Officers who intervened during the attacks were far more likely to be killed or injured than those who apprehended the attackers later.” The study—co-authored by Carlisle E. Moody, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the College of William and Mary, and John R. Lott Jr., from the Crime Prevention Research Center—notes, “This result isn’t a criticism of law enforcement, it simply reflects the tactical realities they face. Their uniforms make them visible targets, and longer response times give attackers more opportunity to cause harm.”
The statistical analysis also found a big difference when the risk is taken by an armed citizen compared to law enforcement when intervening. One percent of permit holders were killed during those encounters in the study period, but the number jumped to 16.5 percent in law enforcement officers.
The report states:
Civilians, by contrast, can intervene when in places they are allowed to carry concealed weapons before an attacker notices them. They also outnumber on-duty police officers by a wide margin. In 2024, 21.5 million Americans—about 8.2% of adults—held concealed handgun permits (Lott et al., 2024). In addition, 29 states allowed Constitutional Carry, which requires no permit at all. Surveys show that 7.2% of likely voters carry all the time, and another 8.4% carry some of the time.
Compare that to the roughly 671,000 full-time sworn law enforcement officers in 2020. If only a third are on duty at any given time, that leaves about 262,522 officers to protect a population of 340 million—less than 0.1% of the population. Even though police have more training and experience, uniformed officers face greater risks and challenges. They’re less likely to be near an attack when it occurs, and when they are, they’re more likely to be targeted and killed. This paper is the first to compare outcomes in active shooter events based on whether armed civilians or police intervened, highlighting key differences in effectiveness and risk.
plus these news items,
The FBI collects data on “active shooter” incidents, i.e., one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a public area.3 The FBI excludes gang and drug-related violence as well as other criminal acts such as a robbery, as their goal is to focus on those cases that get national news attention where an attacker’s sole goal is to murder people in a public place such as mall, school, or movie theater. Since law enforcement agencies don’t collect this data in crime reports, the FBI worked with theAdvanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University to collect these cases from news reports. Research done at the Office of Justice Programs and Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice points out that while the FBI generally does a good job of identifying active shooting cases, they only include some self-defense cases and misidentify others.
plus this news item,
Around closing time at a suburban Indianapolis mall, a heavily armed gunman fired 24 times on a food court within 15 seconds. Several people were shot, three of them fatally. Almost as soon as the gunman began firing, a 22-year-old shopper with a concealed carry permit was able to shoot and kill him, stopping further bloodshed. No charges were filed against the armed citizen. Police say the good Samaritan had no police training or military background. Despite this, he was able to save countless lives.
At the Gold Nugget nightclub in Panama City was closing, the suspect walked outside. After being locked out of the business and enraged over lost property, he got a firearm from his car and began firing into the club occupied by multiple patrons and staff. A patron who is a concealed weapon license holder intervened and fired multiple rounds, striking the suspect at least once. Officers said the patron’s actions were determined to be in self-defense and the self-defense of others.
Read the report. It is fascinating.
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