In an article published by Real Clear Politics, Lott first explains that the FBI defines an “active shooter incident” as, “those in which an individual actively kills or attempts to kill people in a populated, public area.” He also clarified that the statistic does not include shootings related to other crimes such as robberies or gang activities.
According to the report, out of the 440 active shooter incidents between 2014 and 2022, 157 of these shooters were stopped by armed citizens. This contrasts with the FBI’s claim that only 4.6% of active shootings were stopped by citizens. CPRC determined that the actual percentage is around 35.7%, which is about 8 times higher than the FBI’s reported figure. When active shootings occur in areas where law-abiding citizens are legally allowed to carry firearms, the rate of incidents stopped by citizens jumps to a higher percentage of 51%.
The CPRC’s findings are a strong defense against the push for more “gun-free zones.” It is often cited among Second Amendment activists that “it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.” According to every available statistic, this phrase rings true. When citizens have the ability to legally carry in public, and they are properly trained to use their firearm, they have the ability to stop an active shooter in a much quicker response time than law enforcement.
The revelation also questions the legitimacy of FBI data and whether or not the bureau’s reports are politically motivated. Lott argues that the FBI is subject to political pressure and that the data on active shootings may be intentionally omitting defensive gun use incidents.
“The FBI data on active shootings is missing so many defensive gun uses that it’s hard to believe it isn’t intentional,” Lott said in his conclusion. “Errors can happen, but the failure to fix past reports shows a troubling disregard for the truth. The reality is that armed, law-abiding citizens are unsung guardian angels.”
