A recent 2023 Pew Research Center poll reveals a striking and troubling trend: the vast majority of Democrat and Democratic-leaning adults (86%) want stricter gun laws. When asked if gun ownership increases public safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves or if it reduces safety by giving too many people access to firearms, more than three out of four Democrats (78%) said it decreases safety. This view disregards the possibility of “good guys with guns,” painting everyday gun owners as irresponsible, unsafe, or even dangerous extremists obsessed with the Second Amendment.
To bolster this perception and justify restrictive gun laws, anti-gun lobbyists and their political allies have been accused of manipulating or dismissing the evidence showing that armed, law-abiding citizens often prevent crimes. This tactic, which seeks to rewrite the narrative on gun ownership, raises serious concerns about honesty and transparency in public safety discussions.
Suppressing the Data on Defensive Gun Use
Dr. John Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), recently detailed how both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been hiding data supporting the effectiveness of armed citizens in deterring crime. Until recently, the CDC referenced a 2013 National Academies of Sciences report, which noted that people used guns to stop crime anywhere from 64,000 to 3 million times a year. That reference changed under the Biden-Harris administration after pressure from gun control groups.
Dr. Lott pointed out that gun control activist Mark Bryant, founder of the Gun Violence Archive, lobbied the CDC to remove what he called “misinformation” about defensive gun use because it was being cited by “gun rights folks” to oppose gun control legislation. This led to a dramatic change in how the CDC presented its data on defensive gun use (DGU). And it wasn’t just activists pushing for the change; according to the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), the White House and Senator Dick Durbin’s (D., Ill.) office helped the gun control advocates reach top officials at the CDC.
After a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed this coordinated lobbying campaign, it became clear that the CDC had made no effort to contact other researchers or gun rights advocates before making these changes. This one-sided push not only skewed public perception but also undermined the CDC’s credibility as a supposedly “science-based, data-driven” institution.
FBI Selectively Reports Defensive Gun Use
The CDC is not alone in its data manipulation. Dr. Lott’s research also exposed how the FBI has been selectively presenting information about defensive gun use in “active shooter incidents” (ASIs). Despite Lott’s previous work with the U.S. Department of Justice to evaluate the FBI’s ASI reports, his findings showed that the FBI systematically excluded or misidentified cases where armed citizens stopped attacks.
The FBI claims that armed citizens stopped only 14 out of 350 active shooter incidents from 2014 to 2023. However, the CPRC’s more comprehensive data shows a vastly different story: armed citizens intervened in 180 out of 515 active shooter incidents during the same period, saving countless innocent lives. When narrowed to locations where carrying firearms is legally permitted (excluding so-called “gun-free zones”), armed civilians stopped 51% of active shootings over the past decade.
Despite these findings, the FBI has refused to update its data, even after being presented with evidence of its inaccuracies. The Washington Post fact-checker encountered the same resistance when it attempted to discuss Dr. Lott’s dataset with the FBI. The agency simply brushed off inquiries with a dismissive response: “We have no additional information to provide other than what is provided within the active shooter reports on our website.”
Political Collusion Against the Second Amendment?
It doesn’t stop there. There is now reason to believe the Biden-Harris administration may have been collaborating with anti-Second Amendment groups in lawsuits against the gun industry. These suits aim to hold gun manufacturers responsible for crimes committed by third-party criminals who illegally modify their products. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is currently investigating whether the White House has been working with these anti-gun interest groups to cripple a manufacturer that sells a legal product in a highly regulated market.
All these efforts seem focused on one goal: undermining the truth about armed, law-abiding citizens—the so-called “good guys with guns.” Defensive gun use happens every day across America, from stopping home invasions to preventing public shootings. Even the CDC, before bowing to political pressure, acknowledged that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually. A 2021 study estimated roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses each year.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, the anti-gun lobby and their political allies continue to disregard the facts. They dismiss the very idea of “good guys with guns” as a fabrication of the firearm lobby while simultaneously rewriting history and public policy to fit their narrative. It’s a blatant attempt to push a radical anti-gun agenda that ignores the reality of millions of responsible gun owners who exercise their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves and others.
Kamala Harris: A “Gun Owner” in Name Only?
In a bid to close the gap between the Democrats’ anti-gun platform and the beliefs of millions of Americans, Vice President Kamala Harris has recently embraced a new, and questionable, identity as a “gun owner” for her “personal safety.” But make no mistake: this is nothing more than political theater. Harris remains one of the most serious threats to Americans’ Second Amendment rights, championing a gun control agenda that dismisses the importance of defensive gun use.
So why suppress the truth? Because acknowledging the reality of defensive gun use threatens the entire narrative of the anti-gun left. For them, the data isn’t just inconvenient—it’s devastating. But armed citizens will continue to defend their rights and their safety, no matter how hard the anti-gun lobby and its political allies try to bury the facts. The truth is clear: good guys with guns do exist, and they play a crucial role in protecting public safety in America.
