{"id":213221,"date":"2025-02-24T10:59:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=213221"},"modified":"2026-01-14T06:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T12:14:32","slug":"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) has released updated research diving deep into active shooting cases from 2014 to 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2025\/02\/a-deep-dive-into-cases-where-civilians-stopped-active-shooters-did-they-accidentally-shoot-bystanders-get-in-the-way-of-police-get-their-gun-taken-away-or-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\">study<\/a> explores critical questions: Do civilians with concealed handgun permits accidentally shoot bystanders? Do they get in the way of police? How do they compare to law enforcement in stopping active shooters? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings might surprise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yet Another Unsuccessful Defensive Gun Use on Entertainment Television, CBS&#039;s Tracker\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n1Db_7SfAqQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-civilians-stopping-active-shooters-myths-vs-reality\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\" data-level=\"2\">Civilians Stopping Active Shooters: Myths vs. Reality<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-do-police-compare\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\" data-level=\"2\">How Do Police Compare?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-bottom-line\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\" data-level=\"2\">The Bottom Line<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-why-it-matters\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\" data-level=\"2\">Why It Matters<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-civilians-stopping-active-shooters-myths-vs-reality\"><strong>Civilians Stopping Active Shooters: Myths vs. Reality<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Media portrayals often show defensive gun use going horribly wrong\u2014bystanders hit, guns stolen, or well-meaning civilians getting in the way of police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But CPRC\u2019s research paints a very different picture. Out of 180 active shooting cases stopped by <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-california-sig-p365opening-a-door-to-concealed-carriers\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"2565\">concealed handgun<\/a> permit holders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Accidentally shot a bystander<\/strong>: 1 case (0.56%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Got in the way of police<\/strong>: 0 cases (0.0%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Had their handgun taken away<\/strong>: 1 case (0.56%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Were killed while stopping the attack<\/strong>: 2 cases (1.1%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Were injured while saving others<\/strong>: 44 cases (24%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The narrative that civilians recklessly endanger others doesn\u2019t hold up to the data. In fact, civilians successfully stopped active shootings 51.5% of the time in non-gun-free zones, compared to 44.6% by police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/deep-dive-into-the-mac-9-1911-double-stack\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\">Deep Dive into the MAC 9 1911 Double Stack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-do-police-compare\"><strong>How Do Police Compare?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The research also examined <strong>350 active shooter cases<\/strong> where law enforcement intervened:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Accidentally shot the wrong person<\/strong>: 4 cases (1.14%)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Twice, they accidentally shot fellow officers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Twice, they accidentally shot civilians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Police shot and wounded<\/strong>: 100 cases (28.6%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Police killed while stopping the attack<\/strong>: 27 cases (7.7%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, police officers were more likely to be killed or wounded in these situations compared to armed civilians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, officers were 5.94 times more likely to be killed than permit holders. Additionally, police were twice as likely to accidentally shoot the wrong person (1.14% vs. 0.56% for civilians).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-bottom-line\"><strong>The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The numbers tell a clear story: Civilians with concealed handgun permits effectively stop active shooters with minimal collateral damage. They are less likely to shoot bystanders and face fewer casualties compared to law enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These findings challenge common misconceptions about defensive gun use and highlight the critical role of armed civilians in public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-it-matters\"><strong>Why It Matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This study offers valuable insights into the real-world effectiveness and safety of concealed carry permit holders during active shooter situations. It reinforces the argument for responsible civilian gun ownership as a legitimate and effective form of self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those of us who support the 2A, these findings underscore the importance of protecting the right to bear arms. As the debate over gun control continues, the facts speak for themselves\u2014responsible, <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/bus-stop-attack-in-israel-shows-why-armed-citizens-save-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"2566\">armed citizens save lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay informed and join the conversation. For more detailed data and analysis, visit the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2025\/02\/a-deep-dive-into-cases-where-civilians-stopped-active-shooters-did-they-accidentally-shoot-bystanders-get-in-the-way-of-police-get-their-gun-taken-away-or-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\">Crime Prevention Research Center<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"civilians-vs-police-who-handles-active-shooters-more-safely\" title=\"Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) has released updated research diving deep into active shooting cases from 2014 to 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":148035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607,122],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-213221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-buzz","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-r2kba"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Civilians vs. Police: Who Handles Active Shooters More Safely?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New research shows civilians with concealed carry permits safely stop active shooters more effectively than police, with 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