You’d never know it from watching television, but civilians stop more active shooters than police and do so with fewer mistakes, according to new research from the Crime Prevention Research Center, where I serve as president. In non-gun-free zones, where civilians are legally able to carry guns, concealed carry permit holders stopped 51.5 percent of active shootings, compared to 44.6 percent stopped by police, CPRC found in a deep dive into active shooter scenarios between 2014 and 2023.

Not only do permit holders succeed in stopping active shooters at a higher rate, but law enforcement officers face significantly greater risks when intervening. Our research found police were nearly six times more likely to be killed and 17 percent more likely to be wounded than armed civilians.

Those numbers paint a fuller picture than the FBI’s crime statistics, which fail to include many of the defensive gun uses my organization has cataloged. But the problem with the FBI’s crime statistics isn’t just the errors in their reported data — they also fail to address useful questions, like how concealed handgun permit holders compare to law enforcement. Kash Patel and Dan Bongino face a major challenge in reforming how the data is collected and reported at the FBI.

From 2014 to 2023, CPRC researchers found that armed civilians stopped 180 of 515 active shooting cases. Of the attacks in places where people were allowed to carry, we found that permit holders stopped 158 of the 307 instances. The FBI defines an “active shooting” as an event where an individual actively attempts to kill people in a public place — excluding shootings tied to robberies or gang violence. An “active shooting” could be as simple as a single shot fired at a lone human target, even if the shooter misses, to a mass shooting.

The Crime Prevention Research Center’s findings tell a very different story than the narrative you’ll see on television. (Read more from “Study: Concealed Carriers Do A Better Job Of Stopping Active Shooters Than Police” HERE)

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An instructor at the University of Utah is facing massive backlash after she created a “Second Amendment zone” in her classroom. Students who legally carried were forced to stand in a corner of the room that was roped off just for them, Campus Reform reported.

The instructor provided her “weapons policy” to students, which stated:

Concealed carry is protected under your second amendment rights! However, because the University of Utah reserves the right to restrict elements of the first amendment on campus to specifically sanctioned ‘free speech zones’ I am reserving the right to restrict elements of the second amendment in my own classroom.

If you feel that it is somehow at all appropriate to bring a gun to class (hint: it is not—this is absurd, antisocial, and frightening behavior), you are restricted to spending your time in class in my “second amendment zone” a 3×3 taped square on the floor in the very back of the classroom, that will be shared with all other gun carriers. This zone also does not include a desk, because desks are reserved for students who respect the personal and psychological safety of their classmates and instructor.

. . .

One University of Utah instructor wanted concealed carriers to stand in this 3×3 taped area in the classroom. But that's not bias? pic.twitter.com/CsYmTEreZ8

— Beth Baumann (@eb454) August 22, 2018

Students on the University of Utah campus are allowed to carry firearms on campus as long as they have a license to do so. (Read more from “A College Instructor Comes Under Fire for Segregating Concealed Carriers in Her Class” HERE)

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Florida authorities have revoked hundreds of concealed carry permits after it was discovered the permittees were legally ineligible to receive their permit, but slipped through the cracks due to one state employee’s negligence. . .

The Office of Inspector General investigation for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said in a June 2017 report that in Feb. 2016, the employee in charge of running concealed carry permit applicants through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System stopped doing so.

The reason? Because that employee was unable to log into the system. And unfortunately, it was not discovered until March 2017 that applicants, for more than one year, had been approved without an NICS background check.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, there was a spike in concealed carry applications during that time period, likely due to the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in July, with nearly 350,000 concealed carry permit applications.

Because of the employee’s negligence, hundreds of concealed carry permits were issued to Floridians ineligible to possess one. Ultimately, 291 permits were revoked. (Read more from “Hundreds of Concealed Carry Permits Revoked After State Employee’s Negligence Revealed” HERE)

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Florida police are investigating a shooting outside a Cape Coral business after a law abiding concealed carry permit holder defended himself and another man from an armed felon. . .

Cape Coral Police were called to a local roofing business Friday afternoon where they discovered 29-year-old Kevin Bruzos injured with multiple gunshot wounds. Bruzos is a convicted felon.

According to police, Bruzos threatened a man at the business with a firearm, left and returned where he threatened the same man again as well as another man. The second man was licensed to carry a concealed weapon — and he was.

The man with the concealed weapon drew his firearm and ordered Bruzos to drop his. However, instead of complying with the man’s orders, Bruzos pointed his weapon at the armed citizen, leaving the man with no choice but to neutralize the threat. He reportedly shot Bruzos multiple times, but not fatally. . .

Bruzos is “charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon,” according to police. The armed citizen who shot Bruzos in self-defense is not facing charges, police said. (Read more from “Convicted Felon Threatens Concealed Carry Holder With Gun. It Doesn’t End Well for the Criminal.” HERE)

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