Armed citizens deter random shooters more often than FBI says

The new report from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) argues that the FBI’s data contains “massive errors” when tracking active shooting incidents, undercounting how often armed citizens have thwarted active-shooting situations over the last eight years. Data released by the nonprofit shows that 34.4% of active shootings were thwarted by armed citizens between 2014 and 2021. However, FBI data show only 4.4% of active shootings were thwarted by armed citizens during that time period (Fox News).

"An analysis by my organization identified a total of 360 active shooter incidents during that period and found that an armed citizen stopped 124," said John R. Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center.  Lott found that when he adjusted and corrected the numbers, the percentage of shootings stopped by a legal gun owner jumped from single digits to 34%-49%.  He also argued that gun-free zones were a hindrance to good data and defenses that, if eliminated, would boost the percentage of shootings stopped by armed citizens (Washington Examiner).