{"id":226732,"date":"2025-12-15T11:17:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=226732"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:21:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:21:54","slug":"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">3<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> reporter Mark Maremont is once again targeting Americans who lawfully carry concealed handguns. His latest article, <em>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/homicides-bystanders-stand-your-ground-law-60829b8d?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdnjCTIQmdo7uAGyh3ax1fQZc40SeUi1YtIcq0w8bXAjqdXQFo4hMnS9Lpjffs%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69403f9e&amp;gaa_sig=TjkCapsMP43uPGKtA84KEvqDM2YTBqn4Edp8E7djZgmnV-IfbPQMQET2uRvy3LW14W6pANRIMy_fkX1F2D-JGg%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">The Innocent Bystanders Caught in Deadly Crossfire of Self-Defense Shooting<\/a>s,\u201d<\/em> claims that legally armed civilians are putting innocent people at risk during self-defense encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2025\/12\/media-bias-wall-street-journal-claims-innocent-bystanders-shoot-by-people-legally-carrying-a-concealed-handgun-error-filled-article-provides-no-perspective-on-rate\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">research<\/a> compiled by John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), the evidence does not support that conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CDC&#039;s Suppression Of Defensive Gun Usage Data - Dana Loesch\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5z01BFpbT3Q?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<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maremont cites four incidents from 2022 to the present in which he claims <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/sig-p365-vs-glock-43-vs-sw-shield\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1984\">concealed carry<\/a> permit holders accidentally shot bystanders while defending themselves. However, Lott\u2019s review of those <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/federal-appeals-court-puts-the-brakes-on-d-c-s-concealed-carry-permit-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1988\">cases shows that only two actually involved concealed carry permit<\/a> holders, one in Massachusetts and one in Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remaining cases do not fit the narrative. The Ohio incident involved an employee <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-june-backcountry-carry-solution-sig-sauer-p320-xten-10mm\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1985\">carrying a firearm<\/a> at work.  Not a concealed carry permit holder. The California case does not appear to involve a permit holder at all. Despite this, Maremont\u2019s article repeatedly references concealed carry and discusses constitutional carry, even though none of the four cases occurred under constitutional carry laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally absent from the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> piece is basic context. Each year, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usconcealedcarry.com\/blog\/cdc-quietly-removes-defensive-gun-use-studies\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">estimated<\/a> 1.67 million Americans use firearms defensively. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usconcealedcarry.com\/blog\/the-most-armed-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">roughly 21 million<\/a> Americans hold concealed handgun permits, according to CPRC research. Against those numbers, four questionable examples over several years do not suggest a systemic problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-see-also-feds-drop-1m-on-2a-civics\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/feds-drop-1m-on-2a-civics\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">Feds Drop $1M on 2A Civics<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To better quantify the risk, Lott used ChatGPT and Grok to help identify cases over the past decade where concealed carry permit holders accidentally shot innocent bystanders. From 2016 through nearly all of 2025, only four such cases were identified, resulting in two deaths and two injuries. One additional case involved a security guard, which Lott notes arguably should not be counted as civilian concealed carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even including that case, the total over nearly a decade amounts to five bystanders shot, with two killed and three wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By comparison, CPRC\u2019s review of police-involved <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-taking-long-shots-with-bergara-and-cva-new-rifles\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1986\">shootings<\/a> over the same period identified 20 incidents in which officers accidentally shot 28 bystanders, killing seven and wounding 21. In one case, a single officer wounded six bystanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The contrast becomes even sharper in active shooter incidents. Using the FBI\u2019s definition, CPRC data shows that from 2014 to 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/americans-trust-armed-civilians-more-than-the-police-to-stop-active-shooters\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1987\">armed civilians stopped 199 of 562 active shooter<\/a> attacks, compared to 167 stopped by police. Civilians accidentally shot bystanders in just one case, a 0.5 percent rate, while police did so at a rate over five times higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These findings were summarized in an <a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5784482\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\">amicus brief<\/a> authored by John Lott for <em>Wolford et al. v. Hawaii<\/em> and submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data tells a consistent story: lawful concealed carriers are overwhelmingly responsible, and the risks they pose to bystanders are extraordinarily rare.  Especially when compared to police responses in similar high-risk situations.<\/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=\"who-shoots-bystanders-more-often-police-or-concealed-carriers\" title=\"Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to research compiled by John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), the evidence does not support that conclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":224387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607,122],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-226732","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 v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who Shoots Bystanders More Often: Police or Concealed Carriers?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do concealed carriers really endanger bystanders more than police? 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