Stats Show Good Guys With A Gun Make A Difference

You've no doubt heard about the National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre's comment that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun."

There are lots of anecdotes but not a lot of comprehensive research on the subject.  In the recent edition of the Patriot Post, Jacob Paulsen of ConcealedCarry.com recently found that “in 94 percent of cases, armed citizens successfully intervene during what the bureau calls ‘active shooter events.’”

Most reasonable debates start with a definition of terms.  Not counting domestic or gang-related shootings, the FBI defines an “active shooter event” as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area" where both law enforcers and private citizens have the potential to affect the outcome.

In a nutshell, 283 active shooter incidents were identified with an armed citizen present in 33 of them.  Those weapon carrying "good guys" helped stop the active shooter in 25 instances (75.8 percent of the time).  Other stats push the total of life saving involvements to 94 percent of the time when good guys confront bad guys with guns.

That's a significant percent of positive outcome, sadly available in just 11.6% of the active shooter cases.  The solution would seem to be more properly trained, mentally prepared, weapon carrying Americans actually allowed to carry at all venues across society.  What say you?