Are 'Good Guys With Guns' the Answer to Mass Violence?

Are "good guys with guns" an adequate answer to mass violence in the U.S.?

On Sunday, an armed bystander praised by police as a "good Samaritan" shot and killed a gunman who had just opened fire and killed three people at an Indiana mall. The bystander was following the state's new concealed carry law, which went into effect July 1. The same day, the Texas House committee investigating the Uvalde school shooting released a report saying that the 376 law enforcement officers at the scene "failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety." Video shows armed officers waiting outside the classroom where the shooter killed 19 children and two teachers for over an hour before entering and killing him.

Left-rated voices focused more on statistics that suggest that armed bystanders rarely stop mass shootings, and how even when they do, gunmen still often shoot multiple victims before being killed. Many were critical of the National Rifle Association's "only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" tweet after the Indiana shooting, and highlighted how hundreds of officers couldn't stop the lone Uvalde shooter before he killed 21 people. Right-rated voices focused more on the Indiana shooting. Many accused gun control advocates of politicizing guns so much that they ignore any possible benefit gun possession could have. Many across the spectrum did agree in condemning the police response in Uvalde.