FBI Undercounts Times Armed Citizens Stop Active Shootings – IOTW Report

FBI Undercounts Times Armed Citizens Stop Active Shootings

Breitbart

A study from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) released Monday shows the FBI undercounts the number of times an armed citizen stops an active shooting.

The CPRC pointed to the example of 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken shooting and killing the Greenwood Park Mall attacker in Indiana on July 17, 2022.

They noted a few establishment media responses to the attack: “Rare in US for an active shooter to be stopped by bystander” (Associated Press); “Rampage in Indiana a rare instance of armed civilian ending mass shooting” (Washington Post); and “After Indiana mall shooting, one hero but no lasting solution to gun violence” (New York Times).

CPRC then observed:

Evidence compiled by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that the sources the media relied on undercounted the number of instances in which armed citizens have thwarted such attacks by an order of more than ten, saving untold numbers of lives. Of course, law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare. What is rare is national news coverage of those incidents. Although those many news stories about the Greenwood shooting also suggested that the defensive use of guns might endanger others, there is no evidence that these acts have harmed innocent victims.

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4 Comments on FBI Undercounts Times Armed Citizens Stop Active Shootings

  1. It’s impossible to get an accurate count of active shooting stopped by armed citizens. This makes it easy for the govt and other anti-2A whiners to lie about it to make their points.

    1. If the active shooter simply sees someone else with a gun he’s apt to at least pause if not stop and run away. If he pauses, he gives other intended victims nearby the chance to rush him and take him to the ground. This might be in the small print somewhere in the police report but it isn’t a statistic that shows up anywhere.

    2. If the active shooter gets shot at but is missed, he’s apt to stop shooting and take cover or run away. Again, this can save and has saved lives. And again, while this may appear more prominently in the police report, it won’t make it into crime statistics.

    3. If the active shooter is himself shot, then and only then does this go into the database as an active shooter stopped by an armed citizen.

    4. How many wanna-be active shooters never build up the nerve to open fire because they know they’re in an area or state where there’s a significant likelihood of armed citizens around and who are likely to shoot back? Florida has had shall-issue permits for 35 years. State population is about 22 million, and there are close to 3 million active permits. I don’t know what percentage of permit holders always carry but it seems a reasonable estimate that out of every 20 or 25 Floridians out in public, one or more of them is carrying. How many shooting have been stopped because of this? It’s impossible to say, but it sure isn’t zero.

    2

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