By Louis Wichers
We are all familiar with slogans such as State Farm’s “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” This slogan is repeated multiple times in multiple ads with the same character wearing a red polo shirt with State Farm symbol on it. One of my favorite ad campaigns is Subaru’s “Dog tested. Dog Approved.” These commercials project a neighborly or cute image for their companies.
The NRA also has a slogan that is easy to remember and often repeated: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.” The NRA first came out with this slogan on December 21, 2012, roughly a week after the Sandy Hook tragedy. The NRA had a lobbying image problem. Firearms were and are now associated with a violent tragedy involving the deaths and injuries of first graders and educators. In addition, the first victim’s death was an example of how the presence of guns in a home (there were eight in the victim’s home) increases the risk of death or injury in a home. An investigative report concluded that without access to such weapons, the shooter could not have carried out his attack on that elementary school.
When we look at the slogan, the word “gun” is repeated two times, and the word “guy” is repeated two times. This helps us remember the slogan. The slogan has some weaknesses. It classifies people with the terms “good” and “bad.” We have no clue about how to define these terms. Are people good or bad based on their ethnicity, their politics, their clothes, their vehicles, or their religion? Is the status of “bad guy” or “good guy” a temporary or permanent condition?
Let us look at the weakest part of this slogan, the word “only.” Both research studies and anecdotal stories easily disprove that “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.” The FBI and Texas State University cooperated in a study called “A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013.” The study looked at 160 incidents and how they actually ended.
In 45 incidents, police and the shooter “exchanged gunfire.” In 37 incidents, the shooter committed suicide before police arrived. In 25 incidents, the shooter — sometimes several — left the scene before police arrived. In 21 incidents, “unarmed citizens safely and successfully restrained” the shooter. In 17 incidents “the shooter committed suicide after police arrived but before they could act.” In five incidents, armed security guards or a person with a firearms permit exchanged gunfire with the shooter. This longitudinal study easily disproves the “only” in the NRA’s slogan.
Most of us do not carry around research studies, but many of us may remember individual incidents that disprove the “only” found in NRA advertising. In the 2019 El Paso shooting, the shooter left the scene and turned himself in to the police. In the 2021 Austin mass shooting, the shooters left the scene and were not detained until days later. In November 2021, the Taylor Police Department investigated a quadruple “murder-suicide” incident. These anecdotes easily disprove that “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”
So if you hear someone repeat this slogan and want to discuss it, you could reply: “I doubt it” or “Sometimes” or “What is your evidence?” You may even discuss whether or not the slogan is neighborly or cute.
This article first appeared on the Texas Gun Sense website.
