An expanded study from the Crime Prevention Research Center lists more than 60 instances in which a concealed carry permit holder stopped a mass shooter.
The study’s authors note that the 60+ incidents are those in which a concealed carry permit holder used a handgun to stop a mass shooting, and point out:
There is no reason to believe that this list is comprehensive, given how little media coverage is devoted to these heroic acts. In addition, we make no attempt here to list here the vast number of defensive gun uses in general that are reported daily in the US.
The 60+ incidents listed in which concealed permit holders stopped mass shooters occurred in the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, among others.
The incidents in which concealed permit holders stopped mass shooters happened between December 17, 1991, and May 25, 2022.
A few examples from the study:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, October 17, 2021 – A fight between two teens turned into a shooting. A 16-year-old allegedly illegally carrying a gun started shooting. A fight over the gun ensued and shots were fired.
Lancaster Online reported that a bystander with a gun intervened by shooting one of the individuals, ending the threat. The unidentified bystander, who legally possessed the firearm, had heard gunshots related to a fight between two males that knew each other, police said. The bystander remained on scene until security and police arrived.
Duncan, Oklahoma, November 18, 2019 — There was a shooting at a Walmart parking lot in Duncan, Oklahoma that left two people murdered.
USA Today noted, “Aaron Helton, an Army veteran, said he was at the Walmart around 9:45 a.m. when he heard nine shots and saw the gunman, weapon in hand. According to Helton, another man walked up, put a pistol to the gunman’s head and told him to stop shooting. Helton said he saw the shooter was turning the gun on himself and looked away.”
Chicago, Illinois, April 19, 2015 — An Uber driver with a permitted concealed handgun stopped what likely would have been a mass public shooting. Police arrived on the scene quickly, but the Uber driver had already taken care of the situation before they arrived.
Breitbart News covered the Uber driver’s actions as well, noting that the driver with a concealed carry permit thwarted an attempted mass shooting by pulling his own weapon and shooting a gunman who had opened fire in Chicago’s Logan Square.
No one other than the alleged would-be mass shooter was injured.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.