Do Armed Civilians Stop Mass Shooters? Actually, No - Mark Follman

In the wake of the unthinkable massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, pro-gun ideologues are once again calling for ordinary citizens to arm themselves as a solution to mass shootings.

This argument isn't just absurd on its face; there is no evidence to support it.  Two people who tried it in recent years were gravely wounded or killed. And law enforcement overwhelmingly hates the idea of armed citizens getting involved.

Those pesky facts haven't stopped the "arm America more!" crowd from pressing the argument with alleged examples of successful armed interventions. The problem is, the few examples they keep using—in which they depict plain old folks acting heroically and with definitive results—fall apart under minimal scrutiny.

The full article is available here