FBI Releases Pro-2nd Amendment Statement, Cites ‘Preparation’ By Police And Citizens

A report released by the FBI in April underlined the necessity of the Second Amendment, pointing out that nearly half of the incidents in which active shooters were confronted by citizens, the incident ended with an armed citizen successfully stopping the shooter.

A total of 50 active shooter incidents occurred in the United States in 2016 and 2017; of those 50, 10 involved the shooters being confronted by citizens. Of those ten, four were stopped by an armed citizen who stopped the shooter. The FBI report states, “Armed and unarmed citizens engaged the shooter in 10 incidents. They safely and successfully ended the shootings in eight of those incidents. Their selfless actions likely saved many lives. The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike.”

As Timothy Hsiao wrote at The Federalist, “What matters is not the risk (or lack thereof) that guns pose to society, but simply whether guns are a reasonable means of self-defense … Like our right to life, our right to defend ourselves is a basic dignity that can’t be defeated just because it might produce a net benefit … The value of firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens should be measured in terms of lives saved or crimes prevented. Not criminals killed.”

The FBI defined an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. The FBI writes, “The active aspect of the definition inherently implies that both law enforcement personnel and citizens have the potential to affect the outcome of the event based on their responses to the situation.”