MICHIGAN COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERS "Promoting safe use and ownership of firearms through education, litigation, and legislation." MONDAY E'NEWS How the FBI Undercounts Armed Citizen Responders Dr. John Lott has a new piece at Real Clear Investigations about the large systematic errors in the FBI’s count of armed civilians who have stopped what otherwise would have been mass public shootings. The shooting that killed three people and injured another at a Greenwood, Indiana, mall on July 17 drew broad national attention because of how it ended – when 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, carrying a licensed handgun, fatally shot the attacker. While Dicken was praised for his courage and skill – squeezing off his first shot 15 seconds after the attack began, from a distance of 40 yards – much of the news coverage drew from FBI-approved statistics to assert that armed citizens almost never stop such attackers: “Rare in US for an active shooter to be stopped by bystander” (Associated Press); “Rampage in Indiana a rare instance of armed civilian ending mass shooting” (Washington Post); and “After Indiana mall shooting, one hero but no lasting solution to gun violence” (New York Times). Evidence compiled by the organization I run, the Crime Prevention Research Center, and others suggest that the FBI undercounts by an order of more than three the number of instances in which armed citizens have thwarted such attacks, saving untold numbers of lives. Although those many news stories about the Greenwood shooting also suggested that the defensive use of guns might endanger others, there is no evidence that these acts have harmed innocent victims. “So much of our public understanding of this issue is malformed by this single agency,” notes Theo Wold, former acting assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. “When the Bureau gets it so systematically – and persistently – wrong, the cascading effect is incredibly deleterious. The FBI exerts considerable influence over state and local law enforcement and policymakers at all levels of government.” As many on the left seek more limits on gun ownership and use in response to mass shootings and the uptick in violent crime, and many on the right seek greater access to firearms for protection, the media’s reliance on incomplete statistics in covering incidents such as the one at the Greenwood Park Mall takes on new significance. The FBI defines active shooter incidents as those in which an individual actively engages in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated, public area. But it does not include those it deems related to other criminal activity, such as a robbery or fighting over drug turf. The Bureau reports that only 11 of the 252 active shooter incidents it identified for the period 2014-2021 were stopped by an armed citizen. An analysis by my organization identified a total of 281 active shooter incidents during that same period and found that 41 of them were stopped by an armed citizen. That is, the FBI reported that 4.4% of active shooter incidents were thwarted by armed citizens, while the CPRC found 14.6%. Two factors explain this discrepancy... READ MORE UPCOMING EVENTS Upper Peninsula Picnic Saturday, September 10, 2022 from 11 AM to 1 PM EDT Al Quaal Recreation Area; 501 Poplar Street; Ishpeming, MI Open to the public, no cost, no RSVP necessary Fall Firearms Festival Sunday, September 25, 2022 from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM Detroit Sportsmen's Congress; 49800 Dequindre Road; Shelby Township, MI Open to the public, no cost, no RSVP necessary MCRGO Annual Meeting Friday, December 2, 2022 from 11 AM to 2 PM Coral Gables; 2838 E. Grand River Avenue; East Lansing, MI Open to current MCRGO members; Please RSVP by email to [email protected] MCRGO | PO Box 14014, Lansing, MI 48901 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!