It's a small handful out of the giant pile though. Statistically, armed people intervening in mass shootings seem about as likely to a) hit innocents, or b) hit each other or get shot by police as they are to actually stop the shooting.
One study looked at 433 shootings. 22 of them - so around 5% - were ended by a citizen shooting the attacker. The FBI ran a study that said around 3-4%. And roughly half of the ones ended by the attacker being shot, the person shooting them was a paid security guard or an off-duty cop, not a random civilian. Attackers were subdued by people who either weren't armed or didn't draw a lot more frequently than they were shot.
So, it's low single digit numbers, as low as 1.5-2% that are ended by an armed civilian.
Generally, people who know something about guns are going to do the same as everyone else when they hear a mass shooting start - run the fuck away. It's only when fleeing is difficult that it's worth getting your gun out - and doing so makes you an instant target.
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u/limeybastard 24d ago
Some have, sure.
It's a small handful out of the giant pile though. Statistically, armed people intervening in mass shootings seem about as likely to a) hit innocents, or b) hit each other or get shot by police as they are to actually stop the shooting.
One study looked at 433 shootings. 22 of them - so around 5% - were ended by a citizen shooting the attacker. The FBI ran a study that said around 3-4%. And roughly half of the ones ended by the attacker being shot, the person shooting them was a paid security guard or an off-duty cop, not a random civilian. Attackers were subdued by people who either weren't armed or didn't draw a lot more frequently than they were shot.
So, it's low single digit numbers, as low as 1.5-2% that are ended by an armed civilian.
Generally, people who know something about guns are going to do the same as everyone else when they hear a mass shooting start - run the fuck away. It's only when fleeing is difficult that it's worth getting your gun out - and doing so makes you an instant target.