In a study of 433 active shooter attacks in the United States between 2000 and 2021, a bystander shot the perpetrator in 22 cases. The New York Times calls this “statistical unicorn”. They went on to quote Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence who said, “It is exceedingly rare, the exception rather than the rule.”

A child dying from COVID is exceedingly rare. Active shooters being killed by a good person with a gun 5% of the time is impressive, even statistically, if you deal in reality. I say good person because a woman recently shot a gunman who was shooting into a crowd in West Virginia.

There are many jurisdictions and locations where a good person cannot legally have a gun. They did not provide any details on where the shootings took place and the gun laws or what percentage were in "gun free" zones. Many people who could carry guns do not. It certainly is not encouraged by society at large and it is a big responsibility and has its own set of risks.

There were also 42 cases where the gunman was subdued by bystanders who did not have a firearm. This is even more impressive. That fellow citizens had the courage to take action without body armor or a firearm is heroic.

Fortunately, there is a professor at The University of Alabama who we can all rely on because he studies this stuff. Here is his view of the good person with a gun scenario’s success rate. “It’s demonstrably false, because often they are stopping themselves.” What he means is that most shooters die by suicide or leave the scene before the police arrive. Are they so committed to their own agenda that they will say anything no matter how stupid?

15% of active shooters were stopped before police arrived. Some of these people lost their own lives so they could save others. Instead of discounting these actions, we should be encouraging them. The New York Times and others would have us reduce the ability to carry weapons which is why they must lie and say it is “exceedingly rare” that a good person stops a murderer.