The gun control crowd would have you believe that legally armed citizens do not stop mass shootings. Further, they say that these citizens would cause collateral damage that would likely make things worse. The data strongly suggests that both claims are false. John Lott documents this at the Crime Prevention Research Center.
Here is the link to more than 25 instances.
Here are some excerpts.
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This is a revised, updated version of a post originally written on April 21, 2015.Columnist Eugene Volokh wrote in the Washington Post on April 20, 2015: “Have civilians with permitted concealed handguns stopped such mass shootings before?” We provided Volokh with a list of such cases, which he used.
Below, we have collected news stories on more cases of permit holders stopping mass public shootings with their handguns (we separately collect cases where concealed handguns are used to stop other crimes). There is no reason to believe that this list is comprehensive, given how little media coverage is devoted to these heroic acts. In addition, we make no attempt here to list here the vast number of defensive gun uses in general that are reported daily in the US.
Permit holders stopped some mass public shootings that gained extensive news coverage, but only a few stories mentioned that it was a permit holder who stopped the attack. The stories frequently get other facts wrong.
A note: Gun control advocates raise the concern that concealed handgun permit holders who stop an attack might accidentally shoot a bystander. They are also fearful that the police might accidentally kill the permit holder. While such incidents are a possibility, they have yet to occur. We probably do not have all the cases where a permit holder stopped a mass public shooting, but if a permit holder were to shoot a bystander, it seems clear that such an event would get news coverage.
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Charleston, West Virginia, May 25, 2022
Here a man with “an extensive criminal history” started firing an “AR-15 style firearm” into a crowd. Fortunately, a woman who was legally carrying a gun was there to stop the attack.
Police said a woman who was lawfully carrying a pistol shot and killed a man who began shooting at a crowd of people Wednesday night in Charleston.
Dennis Butler was killed after allegedly shooting at dozens of people attending a graduation party Wednesday near the Vista View Apartment complex. No injuries were reported from those at the party.
Investigators said Butler was warned about speeding in the area with children present before he left. He later returned with an AR-15-style firearm and began firing into the crowd before he was shot and killed.
“Instead of running from the threat, she engaged with the threat and saved several lives last night,” Charleston Police Department Chief of Detectives Tony Hazelett said. . . .
Butler did have an extensive criminal history.
Hazelett said no charges will be filed against the woman.Staff Reports, “Police: Woman with pistol killed man who shot at crowd of people in Charleston,” WCHS Charleston/Huntington, May 26, 7:07 AM.
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Portland, OR, February 19, 2022
A homeowner allegedly confronted participants at a racial justice demonstration Saturday night before pulling out a handgun and shooting multiple people in the crowd, leaving one woman dead and several others injured. The shooting ended when a person with the group of demonstrators, who is licensed to conceal carry a firearm, fired back, striking the homeowner in the hip.
The suspect in a weekend shooting that left one woman dead and four people wounded during a protest in Portland, Oregon, faces several charges, including murder, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The shooting unfolded Saturday night after Benjamin Smith, described by police as an homeowner, allegedly confronted a group of demonstrators who were protesting the killing of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police, authorities said…
“Several participants asked Smith to leave them alone. Moments later, Smith drew a firearm and fired at the crowd, striking five people,” the DA’s office said in the news release…
The shooting ended when a person with the group of demonstrators shot Smith in the “hip area,” critically wounding him. Law enforcement originally detained that person on charges of first degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, both felonies. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office ultimately decided to bring “no complaint” against the person “based upon our review of facts and evidence.”
OPB has chosen not to name the person because they have not been charged with a crime, and they did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Court records show the person is licensed to conceal carry a firearm…Conrad Wilson and Ryan Haas, “Multnomah County prosecutor charges suspected park shooter with murder,” Oregon Public Broadcasting, February 22, 2022.
Jennifer Henderson and Michelle Watson, “Suspect in deadly shooting during weekend protest in Portland faces several charges, including murder,” CNN, February 23, 2022.
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Grundy, Virginia, Jan. 16, 2002
Josh White in the Washington Post recounts the testimony of Mikael Gross, one of the two students who had:
. . . Odighizuwa accepted responsibility for the shootings that began after school officials told him that he was failing out of the program. On Jan. 16, 2002, he took a .380-caliber pistol to the offices of Dean L. Anthony Sutin and Prof. Thomas Blackwell and killed them before opening fire on a crowd, killing student Angela Dales, 33, and wounding three others. Odighizuwa was subdued without incident by armed students. . . .
— More details of the attack are available here, including interviews that Lott conducted with the two students who stopped the attack as well as various reporters who covered the case.
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Cases where attacks were stopped with other types of guns
Fort Smith, Arkansas, May 15, 2021
Zachary Arnold, 26, fatally shot Lois Hicks, 87, in her apartment and then began shooting at other people in neighboring apartments. This case involved someone with a rifle, not a concealed handgun, to stop the attack.
Hicks was shot multiple times inside of her apartment by Arnold who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. Arnold continued to shoot his rifle at neighboring apartments. A resident at the apartments heard the gunshots and got a hunting rifle which he used to shoot and kill Arnold. . . . .Nayely Palafox, “Fort Smith Police investigate shooting that left two people dead,” Channel 5 News (Springdale, AR), May 15, 2021.
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Lenexa, Kansas, November 26, 2017
As the chaotic scene unfolded and the gunman methodically walked through the aisles of the Lenexa Costco on Nov. 26, . . .
When the gunman, later identified as Ronald O. Hunt, announced, “I’m an off-duty U.S. Marshal, I’m here to kill people,” Howell realized that he had only one option.
“I knew that there was a threat that had to be stopped,” Howell said Friday as he recalled the incident. . . .
In announcing that the retired U.S. Army veteran would not face criminal charges, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said Howell “acted with extreme courage, and saved an unknown amount of innocent lives.” . . .
“You never know what situation you are going to find yourself in whether it is a restaurant or a shopping mall, or just driving down the road,” he said. “I think it would be ludicrous not to be prepared.” . . .
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