Guns Aren’t the Problem — People Are: Why the Data Is Stacked Against Firearms and the Truth Needs Telling
When it comes to the conversation around firearms, the truth is often buried beneath fear, misinformation, and agenda-driven reporting. Guns are constantly demonized in the media — portrayed as tools of evil, chaos, and death. But here's the truth no one wants to say out loud: a gun is just a tool. Like a hammer or a car, its effect depends entirely on the person using it. Let’s get something straight: a gun is a tool, not a moral actor. It doesn’t think. It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t make decisions. Just like a hammer or a kitchen knife, it’s only as dangerous — or as life-saving — as the person holding it.
But if you look at the way the media spins it, you’d think guns themselves are the root of all evil. Every headline, every scripted drama, every “expert panel” treats the firearm as the villain instead of asking the real question: what kind of person is holding the gun?
It’s not guns that are evil. It’s people.
And in a moment of crisis, you are your own first responder. Waiting for law enforcement to arrive can cost you your life — or the lives of others. The uncomfortable truth? In many situations, it’s not the police who save the day first. It’s armed civilians — average people with training, responsibility, and courage.
In moments of danger, you don’t get to hit pause and wait five to ten minutes for police to arrive. When someone breaks into your home or opens fire in a public space, seconds matter. You either act — or you become a statistic.
The Data the Media Doesn’t Want to Talk About
John R. Lott, Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), recently published a study that tells a story you won’t see on television. Between 2014 and 2023, CPRC found that in places where civilians were legally allowed to carry firearms — non-gun-free zones — concealed carry permit holders stopped 51.5% of active shootings. Compare that to 44.6% stopped by police, and it’s clear: responsible citizens are often the true first line of defense.
Let that sink in — responsible armed civilians outperformed trained police when it came to stopping mass shootings. Not only that, but civilians did it with fewer mistakes and at lower risk to themselves and others.
But it goes deeper than just numbers. Lott’s research showed that:
Police officers are nearly 6x more likely to be killed while trying to stop an active shooter than an armed civilian.
Law enforcement are 17% more likely to be wounded in these confrontations than permit holders.
Out of 180 active shootings stopped by civilians, only 1 bystander was accidentally shot — a 0.56% rate.
Zero civilians interfered with police, and only two lost their lives trying to stop the shooter.
In contrast, police accidentally shot the wrong person in 1.14% of incidents and lost 27 officers in the line of fire during active shooter interventions.
180 of 515 active shootings were stopped by civilians.
In non-gun-free zones, civilians stopped 158 of 307 attacks.
Only one innocent bystander was accidentally shot by a civilian — that’s just 0.56%.
Only two civilians died while stepping in to stop active shooters.
44 civilians were wounded, about 24.4% of cases.
58 shootings (32%) were prevented from becoming mass public shootings.
Civilians had their guns taken away only once.
In 156 police-stopped incidents, four innocent people were shot by accident (1.14%) — double the rate for civilians.
27 officers were killed in the line of fire (7.7%) — six times higher than the rate for armed civilians.
100 officers were wounded (28.6%) — also higher than civilians.
These aren’t minor discrepancies. They’re massive. And they shine a spotlight on a serious problem: the FBI’s crime statistics — often cited by anti-gun advocates — leave out many defensive gun uses. They also ignore the effectiveness of law-abiding citizens compared to law enforcement in active shooter situations. It’s not just misleading — it’s dangerous.
Why the Public Narrative Is Broken
The FBI’s crime data leaves out hundreds of defensive gun use (DGU) cases that Lott and others have documented. These omissions skew the stats and paint an incomplete — and misleading — picture. The Bureau doesn’t compare civilians and law enforcement in their reporting, and they often miss or misclassify armed citizen interventions. Reforming how crime data is collected and reported is essential, and people like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino have called for change.
But while data gets buried, the stories that do make the headlines are the ones that fuel fear, not facts.
If you only watched TV dramas, you’d think every civilian with a gun is a trigger-happy vigilante just one step away from disaster. Shows regularly portray concealed carriers as making situations worse, shooting the wrong person, or interfering with police operations.
This is no accident.
Hollywood is on a mission. Gun control groups have openly worked with writers and producers to push anti-gun narratives in TV shows and movies. That’s why every civilian with a gun on your screen ends up:
Shooting the wrong person
Getting in the way of police
Losing their gun
Panicking and freezing up
Gun control organizations proudly admit to working with Hollywood producers and writers to influence how firearms — and gun owners — are portrayed. They use entertainment as a weapon to shift public opinion. And sadly, it works.
What gets left out? The quiet, everyday heroism of armed civilians who act with courage, precision, and restraint when lives are on the line. These stories don’t fit the agenda, so they get buried.
Responsible Gun Ownership: Power with Purpose
At Goldbar Defense, we take gun safety seriously. We train our students not only to handle firearms properly but also to carry them with wisdom and responsibility. Carrying a firearm isn’t just a right — it’s a commitment. Carrying a gun isn’t about playing cowboy or looking tough. It means staying calm when others panic. Thinking clearly under pressure. Respecting the power, you carry every time you put on that holster. It’s about protecting innocent lives — your own, your loved ones, and maybe even total strangers.
Carrying a firearm is a civil right. But as the old saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.” (Yes, Voltaire said it, and yes, Uncle Ben reminded Peter Parker.)
We teach our students that situational awareness, de-escalation, and emotional control are just as important as marksmanship. A responsible gun owner isn’t just someone who owns a gun — it’s someone who understands the weight of carrying one.
If We Care About Safety, We Must Tell the Truth
It’s time we stop letting Hollywood and biased headlines dictate the conversation about guns in America. The data is clear: responsible, trained civilians save lives. They do it quietly, effectively, and often with fewer mistakes than the professionals. It’s time to stop treating law-abiding gun owners like villains and start recognizing the truth: they are often the difference between life and death. When the system fails, when seconds matter, when danger is already here — it’s the armed civilian who stands up, not the one waiting for someone else to fix it.
A gun is neither good nor evil — it’s a tool. What matters is the person holding it.
The numbers don’t lie. The people do.
So let’s stop blaming the object and start empowering the individual. Let’s educate, train, and encourage personal responsibility. Let’s honor the heroes who step up when seconds matter — not demonize them because they don’t fit a narrative.
And above all, let’s tell the truth.
Let’s be honest. Let’s train well. And let’s stop pretending the gun is the problem when the real issue is what’s in the heart of the person holding it.
Remember when seconds count and help is minutes away you are your own first responder.
Stay safe my friends.
Pastor Bart Goldbar
Goldbar Defense LLC
