Sister of David Hogg Argues ‘No Such Thing as a Good Guy with a Gun’

David Hogg

Lauren Hogg, the sister of anti-gun activist David Hogg, turned a few heads with her argument explaining why a “good guy with a gun” can’t stop a “bad guy with a gun.” According to her argument, trying to stop someone with a firearm with another firearm, would be like if firefighters fought fire with fire.

While Nickolas Cruz, the Parkland shooter, did surrender himself to authorities, most mass shooters commit suicide once confronted with armed resistance. I’m honestly confused at what Lauren is arguing. Once an armed madman enters a public area and begins shooting, the worst has already happened. How could someone trained with a firearm possibly make things worse? And do cops not count as “good guys with guns” according to Hogg?

Her tweet prompted a reply from Parkland survivor (and pro-gun activist) Kyle Kashuv, and many others.

According to Stanford University Libraries’ dataset of mass shootings, there have been 153 cases where 3 or more individuals were killed by guns (and not as a result of gang violence), but many of those included family murders. 54 incidents fit what we think of as a “mass public shooting,” where someone picks targets at random.

Of those 54 incidents, the shooter chose locations where guns were banned 37 times (69 percent). Alternatively, the shooting occurred where guns were legally allowed only 17 times (31 percent). But here’s the key statistic:

Of the 17 shootings that occurred where citizens could legally carry firearms, 5 (29 percent) were ended when the gunman was stopped or slowed by a gun permit holder’s intervention.

In other words, when someone began shooting into an area where law-abiding gun owners could conceal carry, there was someone there with a concealed carry permit to fire back a third of the time.

While having an armed school resource officer at Stoneman Douglass High School proved ineffective because of the resource officer’s own incompetence, an armed teacher would’ve proved more effective. Football coach Aaron Feis, who had a concealed carry permit, threw himself on students to shield them from bullets as Cruz opened fire. Had he been allowed to carry on campus, he would’ve fired back.

As radical an idea as it sounds, it’s already more common than you’d think.

What do you think should be done to stop mass public shootings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. 

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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