Recently, as in the past few years, American in particular have seen a spike in mass shootings and school shootings. A solution I believe to work which will almost positively reduce shootings is very simple, yet controversial. Armed civilians.

Armed civilians have stopped some mass shootings in recent years. Several examples have been reported or even underreported due to the agenda it leads to support, in support of the 2nd Amendment and gun rights as a nation. According to a National Review article published in May of 2018:

“…Fast forward to 2016–2017. In that time period, six armed citizens confronted active shooters. They stopped the shooting four times (in one case, the shooter fled to a different site and continued shooting, and in the other the armed citizen was wounded before he could stop the shooting).” https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/fbi-active-shooter-data-shows-importance-of-armed-citizens/

Between 2016 and 2017, there were 50 active shooter situations. Six civilians to intervene equates to 12% of active-shooter mass shootings or attempts. Of those six interventions, four were successful, and all but one resulted in the end of the shooting situation. What does this tell us, as Americans?

It works.

We know from experience that there are not enough police officers to go around for the entirety of cities. Armed, responsible civilians would solve many, many mass shooting issues. Gun-free zones and laws supporting them must be abolished, including laws about schools. Arming classrooms may seem scary for some, but with the right training and responsible people, we can prevent many mass shootings and possibly remove the inclination to target these weak areas where no guns are present. On the issue of gun-free zones, Daily Wire tells us;

“According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, only a little more than 1% of mass public shootings since 1950 have occurred in places that were not considered to be a gun-free zone,” https://www.dailywire.com/news/27440/what-percentage-mass-shootings-happen-gun-free-amanda-prestigiacomo



No one is suggesting guns should be open to students to see, but rather concealed on certain, selected, trained teachers. When every second matters in the sense of your survival, police take full minutes to respond, and sometimes only a guard in schools is not enough.

Another often overlooked issue is the reason why students end up killing tens of their classmates. In schools, in locker rooms, during sports, on social media, a lot goes on that is little known to parents or teachers. Counselors in schools don’t get paid enough, and kids are afraid to say anything as these counselors would run to authorities rather than help the student. Mental health among teens and young adults is an issue that doesn’t get much attention with politicians and lawmakers.

Finally, I have heard Democratic politicians say that “there is no reason you need an AR-15.” Well, what they completely ignore is the reason for the 2nd Amendment. It was not written to go hunting. It was not written for people to own a handgun. It was written to prevent a tyrannical government from taking over. In modern politics, it seems as if we are coming closer and closer to utilizing our rights as intended. An infamous dictator, Adolf Hitler, stated

“The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.”

In Baltimore last month, they held a gun buyback, bringing in 1,089 firearms which they spent $163,000 on. Over a thousand weapons. I am not too sure what part of “shall not be infringed” went right over citizens’ heads during the buyback.

In conclusion, civilians carrying in public can be much, much more effective than police at removing the threat of mass shootings. Police take 20 minutes, a gun takes seconds. 18 and 19 year old teenagers wouldn’t be so inclined to fire upon the soft targets which are schools if they knew they were under the threat of death before inflicting harm upon the students they take the lives of.