FBI Report: Armed Citizens Killed More Criminals Than Police
Remember: When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
The FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2020 indicates that armed private citizens killed more criminals during the commission of a felony than were killed by police, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms says this data clearly underscores the continuing need for American gun ownership.
“We looked at Tables 14 and 15 in the FBI’s new report that apply to justifiable homicides by law enforcement and private citizens, respectively,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Last year, according to the data, armed citizens killed 343 criminals during the commission of a felony while police fatally shot 298 felons.
“If the FBI data published in their crime report for 2020 is accurate,” he continued, “it is ample evidence that the individual right to keep and bear arms for personal defense is as important today as it was when the Second Amendment was adopted as a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights.
“The use of deadly force is not something anybody wants,” Gottlieb observed, “but neither is being injured or killed by some thug during a violent criminal attack. Self-defense may be the oldest natural right, and every time we hear some politician, public official or gun control extremist call for citizen disarmament, we have to wonder which side they’re on. It certainly can’t be on the side of public safety.
“Gun prohibitionists who enjoy their own private security while promoting restrictive laws that take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens are world-class hypocrites,” he said. “The same people who want to disarm honest citizens are typically those who support policies that are soft on criminals. They haven’t simply lost perspective; they’ve abandoned common sense.”
CCRKBA has long defended the individual right to keep and bear arms, and encourages gun owners to seek competent instruction on firearms safety and the use of firearms in self-defense. Gottlieb noted how studies show that over 99 percent of cases when a gun is used in self-defense, no shots are fired. The burglar, robber or rapist flees or is held at gunpoint until police arrive, he said.
“This data should send a message to criminals that their chances of recidivism are gradually shrinking,” said Gottlieb, who co-authored America Fights Back – Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age, and more recently, Good Guys with Guns. “The tide has clearly turned.”
I’ll bet the citizen stats are very low. How many citizens shoot the bad guy, look around &, seeing no close by witnesses, simply walk away? Bet it happens more than we think.
The 2nd amendment affirms our right to keep and bear arms and it’s a good thing. Without it we would be like Australia is right now. Locked down with police bashing heads of those who don’t comply. If the people there had fought to keep their arms that would not be happening as no cop no matter how tyrannical is not going to try what they are doing there on an armed population. The left would have you think that the 2nd amendment is your right to go hunting. That’s absurd as the 2nd amendment has nothing to do with hunting. It’s to keep an armed militia that could beat back invasion from a foreign enemy and to stop a tyrannical government from doing things like what the Biden administration is currently doing. The president has no power to require vaccinations, open the border and lock up people for being on capital grounds. The side benefits of the 2nd amendment are that we can defend ourselves with our favorite pistol, revolver, rifle or shotgun. I too am surprised that the number killed by citizens is not a magnitude higher than that of police. With things the way they are right now in this country I hope we can change this march toward a tyrannical government and get all our freedoms back. God bless the U.S.A.!!!
We live in a somewhat rural area with FEW Law Enforcement Officers. Four years ago, I called in a “Shots Fired” incident at 5:00 am. After 30 minutes, still no Officer response. I called again and was told “We’re locating an officer…”. Finally, after 45 minutes, we saw the police vehicle pass our home toward the altercation.
Do you think we keep a firearm on each side of our bed? You bet we do! Judged by twelve, vs. carried by six!
In the late seventies I worked at a small southern town that employed a fifty man police department. Out of fifty officers less than a dozen of us went to the firing range on a regular basis. One of the captains had a revolver that due to the ammo being so old would only fire three out of six rounds and was almost impossible to extract due to corroded ammunition. I suspect that many of today’s police officers are still the same. I’m not surprised that armed civilians are more apt to have practiced with their concealed carry firearms on a regular basis. Police officers have more accidental or “wrong suspect” shootings than armed citizens do. Any time an armed citizen is attacked by criminals that attack represents a failure on the part of the police to insure we have a safe society. Police can’t be everywhere so wise citizens prepare to defend themselves. This was a very well written article, by the way.
That PD wasn’t Mayberry, was it? Back in the late 60s, we had 4 inch barreled Colts & could shoot the eyes ( & heart) out of the silhouette.
The real problem is that citizens are between the police, who don’t seem to want us to protect ourselves, and the criminals, who REALLY don’t want us to protect ourselves. I don’t see an answer to this dilemma.
Let me do some Jethro Bodine ‘ciphering’ here – since there are something like more than ten times as many Law Abiding Citizen gun owners as there are coppers (100 million+ vice around 800 thousand) – I’m sorta surprised that the numbers aren’t even higher for the Citizens. After all, WE are the ones who are much more likely to be targeted by criminals. Even if we just ‘count’ those with permits/licenses of one sort or another, that is still a nearly 3 to 1 difference (around 21 million+) Seems to me that the criminals are getting off pretty lightly. OTOH, most DGU incidents do not result in any shots being fired. Hmm maybe I should apply for a federal grant to study this issue!
Not a bad idee, Mr. Gomez! You should maybe do just that!
From GunrunnerinSATX
Armed citizens and police should be working closely together. Armed citizens should be honored for keeping the peace. An armed society is a polite society. We, the People are responsibly armed Americans, who support and defend our Constitution and our God-given human rights of self-defense and to defend against tyranny.
Being soft on criminals is an understatement. Some of the politicians are just as bad and want to free their friends from the big house. Both do not care about us individuals.
Gun prohibitionists who enjoy their own private security while trying to take away our means of self defense are worse than hypocrites; they are traitors who want to overthrow our Constitutional Republic and replace it with a Communist dictatorship with them in control. This is straight out of Karl Marx’s ?Communist Manifesto” and there can be only two reasons for it: stupidity or treason. Treason is most likely.
In reference to the, “just sayin” comment leading the article, this is likely true of those who habitually carry. As far as, “the average gun owner” goes, probably not. The good news there is if a criminal encounters a victim that is armed, that victim likely belongs to the first group.
A key take-away here, although unstated in the article is that many LEOs are not as proficient with their personal weapons as most people would like to think. Don’t blame the Policefor this. In an era of constantly shrinking budgets, and constant increases in the complexity of a LEOs job, and given the statistical unlikelyhood of a given LEO ever using his weapon in the line of duty, scarce training dollars have lots of better places to go than firearms training and practice.