A recent FBI investigation held in April showed that in numerous incidents involving active shooters, the people who stopped the incidents were armed.
“Armed and unarmed citizens engaged the shooter in 10 incidents. They safely and successfully ended the shootings in eight of those incidents,” read the report. “Their selfless actions likely saved many lives.” Four of those eight shooters were stopped by a lawfully armed citizen.
“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 one incident, a citizen possessing a valid firearms permit exchanged gunfire with the shooter, causing the shooter to flee to another scene and continue shooting,” the report read.
However, even with the abundant gun shootings and violence, there are still those calling for disarmament of American citizens.
According to Timothy Hsiao for The Federalist, the issue is not whether guns increase violence, but whether they are a good means of self-defense.
“What matters is not the risk (or lack thereof) that guns pose to society, but simply whether guns are a reasonable means of self-defense,” wrote Hsiao, adding that to defend one’s life is a basic dignity that cannot be taken away in the name of “social utility.”
In nearly all national survey estimates, the results have shown that defensive gun uses by victims are nearly as common as offensive uses by criminals.
The majority of the millions of Americans that legally carry firearms every day cite self-defense as the first and foremost reason to do so.
“The overwhelming majority of the time, those guns are never drawn in anger,” writes Paul Hsieh for Forbes. “But innocent civilians can and do sometimes use their guns in self-defense.”
Hsieh states that any discussion about firearm policy must acknowledge those that are saved by the legal use of guns and self-defense, such as those in the active shooter incidents.
“The value of firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens should be measured in terms of lives saved or crimes prevented,” he said, “Not criminals killed.”
Original story: conservativefighters.org
