Gun control advocates scoff at the notion that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun, and they often throw up their hands and say, “Prove it” when they try to debate the matter. Well, now gun rights supporters can do that, and they can thank the FBI for the data.
The FBI identified 50 shootings in 2016 and 2017 as “active shooter incidents” in a recent study and pointed out that ordinary citizens—armed or unarmed—intervened in 10 of the situations, successfully thwarting the attacker eight times.
While not all the civilians who stepped up to confront the perpetrators were armed, the FBI report noted, “The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike.”
In four of the 10 incidents, the responding citizens were unarmed. The heroes in those cases verbally negotiated with the attacker or, in one example, use a car to stop the deranged madman.
Six shooters were confronted by armed citizens, and the armed citizens were successful in four of those cases. The one that earned the most coverage in mainstream media involved the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where NRA member Stephen Willeford engaged the shooter with an AR-15. The bad guy fled, but eventually died.
Of the two remaining instances, the civilian was wounded when he confronted the shooter once and in the other the shooter fled after exchanging shots with the law-abiding gun owner.
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