Kerby Anderson

The debate about shooting incidents in America can be divided into at least two categories: What can we do to prevent a shooting? What can we do to stop a shooting that is taking place?

Gun control advocates focus most of their attention on the first issue. But Glenn Kessler (doing a fact-check in the Washington Post) explained that most gun restrictions wouldn’t prevent mass shootings. A recent example was the shooter in Santa Fe, Texas, who had a shotgun and revolver but no gun that would be restricted under the currently proposed legislation.

Is there anything we can do to stop a shooter once he decides to use a weapon? The FBI report on “Active Shooter Incidents in the United States” provides some possible answers. Looking at the data, it is easy to conclude that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun. The good guy would either be law enforcement or an armed citizen.

But there are many people who reject the idea that the way to “stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” They say it is a nice sounding slogan, but it is rarely true. That is where the FBI report provides some perspective. It looks at ALL “active shooter” events, not just completed mass shootings that are the ones reported by the media.

The report shows that active shooting incidents are indeed on the rise. But it also documents that armed citizens often make a difference. David French, looking at the FBI report says, “as more Americans obtain carry permits, more Americans will be on-scene and able to react. Moreover, what’s missing from the data is any indication that armed citizens make the crisis worse. The stereotype of carry-permit holders spraying panicked gunfire is simply wrong.”

This report shows what armed citizens can do to make us safer.