{"id":2679641,"date":"2026-10-09T09:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-trump-admin-stats-prove-good-guys-with-guns-save-lives\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T09:04:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:04:01","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-trump-admin-stats-prove-good-guys-with-guns-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-trump-admin-stats-prove-good-guys-with-guns-save-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"New Trump Admin Stats Prove Good Guys With Guns Save Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnew-trump-admin-stats-prove-good-guys-with-guns-save-lives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2679641&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This article discusses recent corrections and debates surrounding crime data manipulation in the United States, notably regarding gun-related statistics. The Trump administration restored and corrected CDC data on defensive gun uses, aligning the lower estimate from 60,000 to 500,000 annual incidents with prior survey estimates. Historically,the CDC&#8217;s previous lower range was criticized for underreporting,and these corrections help counter the narrative promoted by gun control advocates that downplays the prevalence of lawful gun defenses.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the article highlights discrepancies in FBI data on active shooter incidents. The FBI&#8217;s reports have significantly underestimated the role of armed civilians in stopping attacks, with the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) identifying many more cases-225 incidents from 2014 to 2025-where armed citizens intervened, representing roughly 36.6% of attacks.These figures are much higher than the FBI&#8217;s reported 4%. The FBI&#8217;s reluctance to include many defensive gun use cases, especially those involving legally armed civilians, is criticized as purposeful omission. the piece underscores how data manipulation and gaps influence the national debate on gun rights and crime prevention.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Those who manipulate crime data can shape the political debate. The Trump administration has reversed some serious data manipulation that occurred during the Biden administration when it comes to crime.<\/p>\n<p>At the request of gun control advocates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed data from its website. The Trump administration has now restored the data, but it went a step further, correcting an important error in the original post.<\/p>\n<p>That correction is a major accomplishment. But there are problems with data at the FBI and Department of Justice that still need to be corrected.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting the CDC Back in Line<\/h2>\n<p>A 2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220713172632\/https:\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/login.php?record_id=18319&#038;page=&#038;cc=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Academies of Sciences (NAS) report<\/a>, co-sponsored by the CDC, discussed research producing estimates of defensive gun uses ranging from about 500,000 annually at the lower end of national surveys to over three million. Yet the CDC posted a substantially different range of <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/10\/the-cdc-corrects-its-post-on-defensive-gun-uses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">60,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During the Biden administration, the White House and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois connected gun control advocates with CDC officials. The advocates then met privately with CDC officials and exchanged numerous emails as they pressed the agency to remove its discussion of defensive gun use. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the advocates objected in part because \u201cgun rights folks\u201d cited defensive-gun-use estimates to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thereload.com\/app\/uploads\/2022\/12\/CDC-DGU-Emails-Reload-Redactions.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stop [gun-control] legislation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By May 2022, the CDC removed the defensive-gun-use material from its website. It remained down until the Trump administration restored the original post in July 2026. Gun control organizations sharply criticized the decision. Michael Bloomberg-funded outlet The Trace, for example, ran the headline, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Trump-CDC-Props-Up-Inflated-%E2%80%98Good-Guy-With-a-Gun-Data.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Inflated Claim About Guns and Self-Defense Returns to CDC Website<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the CDC\u2019s range of 60,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses did not accurately describe what the 2013 NAS report said about national survey estimates. The NAS report cautioned that the National Crime Victimization Survey estimate was \u201cdifficult to interpret because respondents were not asked specifically about defensive gun use.\u201d It then reported that estimates based on national surveys ranged from about 500,000 to more than 3 million defensive gun uses annually. Moreover, the 500,000 estimate limited defensive gun uses to just cases involving handguns.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has now <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/10\/the-cdc-corrects-its-post-on-defensive-gun-uses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corrected the lower end of the range<\/a> from 60,000 to 500,000 defensive gun uses per year, bringing the CDC\u2019s description into line with the lower end of the national survey estimates discussed by the NAS.<\/p>\n<p>For years, gun control <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/article\/debunking-the-guns-make-us-safer-myth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">activists<\/a> have tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.everytown.org\/debunking-gun-myths-at-the-dinner-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cdebunk\u201d<\/a> what they call the \u201cgood guy with a gun myth\u201d as they push for stricter limits on one of our nation\u2019s most cherished liberties. The federal government and much of the legacy media have reinforced that narrative by downplaying evidence that armed, law-abiding citizens can stop public mass-casualty attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Even dramatic defensive gun uses rarely receive national attention. One exception came in August, when Jordan Salinas fired at a gunman who was shooting at vehicles outside an In-N-Out restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho. As one <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/03\/us-news\/hero-civilian-who-fired-back-at-in-n-out-shooter-trained-in-self-defense-after-witnessing-another-mass-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">news report<\/a> noted, Twin Falls County Sheriff Jack Johnson said the death toll would have been higher without the actions of Salinas and an off-duty police officer.<\/p>\n<p>Since the beginning of 2025 alone, we have identified <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2023\/06\/uber-driver-in-chicago-stops-mass-public-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">15 defensive gun uses<\/a> in which police made similar statements about armed civilians saving lives.<\/p>\n<h2>FBI Doubles Down on Data Errors<\/h2>\n<p>The FBI has also had its own data problems. The FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/U-_ActiveShooter13B_FBI.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defines<\/a> an active shooter as someone actively killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. The category can include an incident in which a gunman shoots at a single person and misses, as well as a mass public shooting. But it excludes shootings tied to other crimes, such as robberies or fights over drug turf.<\/p>\n<p>I have seen politicized data firsthand. Until January 2021, I served at the U.S. Department of Justice as senior adviser for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs, where part of my job involved evaluating <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/09\/massive-errors-in-fbis-active-shooting-reports-from-2014-2025-regarding-cases-where-civilians-stop-attacks-instead-of-3-9-the-correct-number-is-at-least-36-6-excluding-gun-free-zones-it-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the FBI\u2019s active shooter reports<\/a>. During my time at DOJ, I found that the FBI had missed or misidentified many <a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3857331\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cases<\/a> in which armed civilians stopped attacks. The FBI still reports that armed citizens stopped only 16 of the 408 active shooter incidents it identified from 2014 through 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which I run, has identified many additional cases and maintains an <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2024\/07\/updated-cases-where-armed-citizens-have-stopped-active-shooter-incidents\/?_thumbnail_id=16421\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">updated list<\/a>. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/09\/massive-errors-in-fbis-active-shooting-reports-from-2014-2025-regarding-cases-where-civilians-stop-attacks-instead-of-3-9-the-correct-number-is-at-least-36-6-excluding-gun-free-zones-it-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">numbers<\/a> tell a very different story. From 2014 through 2025, we identified 615 active shooter incidents and found that armed citizens <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2024\/07\/updated-cases-where-armed-citizens-have-stopped-active-shooter-incidents\/?_thumbnail_id=16421\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stopped<\/a> 225 of them. We also excluded 35 cases in which a law-abiding citizen with a gun stopped an attacker before he could fire a shot.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the CPRC estimates that armed, law-abiding citizens stopped 36.6 percent of active-shooter attacks from 2014 through 2025 and 42.5 percent over the most recent five years. That is roughly 10 times the FBI\u2019s estimate of about 4 percent.<\/p>\n<p>The gap grows even larger when we look only at places where law-abiding citizens can legally carry firearms. We should not expect armed civilians to stop many attacks in gun-free zones, where the law prevents them from carrying. In places where citizens could legally carry firearms, we estimate that armed civilians stopped 52.9 percent of active-shooter attacks over the past 12 years.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI has continually ignored requests from news outlets such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2023\/01\/31\/whats-more-common-good-guy-without-gun-or-with-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Post<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/sep\/10\/fbi-undercounts-cases-good-guy-gun-stops-attacks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Times<\/a> to explain these missing cases. When John Stossel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0r_xc09q9vo&#038;t=324s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> the FBI about our claim that they had omitted many cases, the Bureau responded: \u201c[Our data is] not intended to explore all active shooting incidents but rather to provide a baseline understanding . . .\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Texas State University\u2019s researchers who helped put the FBI data together pointed to two cases that they didn\u2019t think should be included in the hundreds that we found, but we pointed to seventeen cases that were otherwise identical to ones they did include, with the only difference being that the ones they didn\u2019t include were stopped by civilians legally carrying guns.<\/p>\n<p>Texas State University researchers who helped compile the FBI data questioned two of the hundreds of cases we identified. In response, we pointed to <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/09\/massive-errors-in-fbis-active-shooting-reports-from-2014-2025-regarding-cases-where-civilians-stop-attacks-instead-of-3-9-the-correct-number-is-at-least-36-6-excluding-gun-free-zones-it-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">17 cases<\/a> that the FBI did include despite circumstances essentially identical to the two cases they said should be excluded. The only difference was that the ones they excluded had civilians legally carrying firearms stopping the attacks.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The FBI has omitted so many defensive gun uses that it becomes difficult to dismiss the pattern as accidental, especially because the agency has not corrected mistakes that I previously brought to its attention. And because <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2024\/07\/updated-cases-where-armed-citizens-have-stopped-active-shooter-incidents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">we list each case and link to the underlying sources<\/a>, no one has to take our word for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<p>      John R. Lott Jr. is the president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/\">Crime Prevention Research Center<\/a>. He served as the senior advisor for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Legal Policy in the U.S. Department of Justice during 2020-21.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump restores CDC crime data, correcting key errors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":2679642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/joel-moysuh-VRtZv7SUbU-unsplash.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[52020,35975,32209,11684,44957],"class_list":["post-2679641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gun-rights-2","tag-public-safety","tag-second-amendment","tag-self-defense","tag-trump-admin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/joel-moysuh-VRtZv7SUbU-unsplash.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2679641"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2679645,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679641\/revisions\/2679645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2679641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2679641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2679641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}