New Study Claims FBI Underreports Armed Civilians Stopping Mass Shootings

A recent report challenges the FBI’s data, asserting that the agency significantly undercounts instances where armed civilians intervene to stop mass shootings in the United States.

According to the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), armed civilians halted at least 36% of active shooter incidents between 2014 and 2024, a stark contrast to the FBI’s reported figure of just 3.7%.

The CPRC’s findings, released last week, suggest that mainstream media and fact-checking outlets have leaned on the FBI’s numbers to downplay the frequency of such interventions, casting doubt on the value of legal gun ownership.

The disparity is even more pronounced for 2024, where the CPRC found that armed civilians stopped nearly 48% of active shooter cases, while the FBI recorded none.

Drawing from local news reports, the CPRC argues that the FBI either overlooked many incidents or misclassified them. In some cases, civilians with firearms forced potential shooters to flee, but the FBI attributed the resolution to law enforcement because police made the eventual arrests, the report claims.

One example cited by the CPRC occurred in June 2024 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. During a heated altercation at an apartment complex where shots were fired, a woman emerged with a handgun and returned fire, causing the assailants to flee and likely averting further violence, according to local police.

The CPRC acknowledges that its findings may not capture every incident, as local media may not report all active shooter events.

In the past, the FBI has stated that its data is not meant to cover all active shooter incidents comprehensively but rather to provide a general overview.

“Law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare,” the CPRC emphasized. “What is rare is national news coverage of those incidents.”

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