According to a report authored by John R. Lott Jr., who serves as the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), the data reveals that armed citizens thwarted active shooters significantly more frequently from 2014 to 2022 than previously indicated by the FBI.
The report, of which Lott shared excerpts on Real Clear Politics, highlights that during this period, there were 157 instances in which an armed civilian intervened to stop an active shooter out of a total of 440 incidents. Furthermore, Lott identified five cases in which the FBI had inaccurately categorized the individuals responsible for stopping the attacks, often mislabeling them as security personnel.
Lott’s findings challenge the FBI’s assertion that only 4.6% of active shooting incidents were halted by law-abiding citizens carrying firearms. Instead, his analysis indicates that such citizens played a role in preventing 35.7% of these incidents. Notably, the data for the year 2022 showed an even higher percentage of 41.3%.