Exactly how dangerous is America? As of this writing there have been 77 mass shootings in 2023 alone and 5,212 since 2013. According to the firearms statistics website everystat, an average of 15,343 people are killed by firearm homicide every year. Those numbers seem excessively high, but it’s hard to get a sense of just how high they are.

US murder-homicide rates have skyrocketed in recent years (data from the World Bank)

In the top 5 most dangerous cities in the United States, the homicide rates are so bad that they’re comparable to the casualties suffered in some wars. To clarify: a war is a series of battles fought over a long period of time, usually several years. To have more deaths in a single city in peacetime truly says something about the quality of life there and city hall’s crime policies.

Chicago

695 people were killed in Chicago in 2022, giving the city some of the highest homicide numbers in the United States. The murders are concentrated around the Englewood and West Chicago areas, with some shootings occurring near downtown tourist hot spots. The city is so violent that it’s earned the dark moniker “Chiraq.” Ironically, there were more dead Chicagoans in 2022 than dead Iraqis in 2021.

When the Russians invaded South Ossetia in 2008, conservative casualty estimates place the combined number of dead on both the Russian and Georgian sides at 659, including the casualties suffered by the various mercenaries and foreign volunteers who took up arms for either side.

Philadelphia

The City of Brotherly Love is ironically one of the most dangerous cities in America, with 516 homicides in 2022. According to a report by the New York Times, 1,400 people had been shot by August of 2022, which is odd for a city which is trying its best to regulate its citizen’s guns. Violence is usually concentrated in North and West Philadelphia, so a lot of the city is safe for tourists, and local ride-shares will usually be knowledgeable enough to tell you which places are no-go zones. However, the gas stations and 7-11s throughout the city that are frequent targets of carjackings and muggings make it almost mandatory to carry a weapon for self-defense.

Philadelphia’s high homicide count is comparable to the total casualties suffered during the world’s shortest war: the Anglo-Zanzibar War. In 1896, the tiny Zanzibar Sultanate dared to stand up to the Royal Navy. In response, two British cruisers and three gunboats off the coast shelled until it surrendered. The entire affair lasted just 38 minutes and resulted in approximately 500 casualties.

Los Angeles

Known for its large homeless population and violent crime, the City of Angels has never quite lived up to its name. With the majority of violent crime concentrated in the city center, Los Angeles reported 382 homicides in 2022. Some, like Captain Paul Vernon of the LAPD, believe this high homicide rate is due to the political hamstringing of the police force. The popular “defund the police” movement has led to some LAPD officers afraid to do their jobs, and there has been a decreased police presence in high crime areas. The lack of badges has emboldened criminals, leading some criminals to do “walk up” shootings in the middle of broad daylight, knowing that police will be reluctant to stop them for fear of being labeled as “racist” and losing their jobs.

Meanwhile, down in Mozambique, the country’s Marxist government was challenged over the results of the 2014 general elections, in which they narrowly defeated the conservative, anti-communist RENAMO party. Conservative forces waged an on-and-off guerrilla war on the communist government. This war, which lasted from 2014 – 2019, resulting in approximately 327 casualties, less than the number of people killed in Los Angeles every year.

Detroit

The media is rife with stories about Detroit, making it out to be an urban hellhole worse than even its fictional counterpart in the Robocop movies. The city now synonymous with gun violence was once the auto manufacturing capital of the world. When production shifted overseas, the city which once had two million people now has a population of 640,000 and shrinking. Thanks to the lack of jobs and high crime rate (caused by the lack of jobs), Detroit will continue to be a city in decline until its leadership does something to crawl out of its economic crisis. 309 people were killed in Detroit 2022, mostly as a result of gang wars and violent crimes.

Compare that number to number of people killed in the entirety of the Second Afar Insurgency. This relatively unknown 28-year-long ethnic conflict lasted from 1995 until 2018 in an area the size of New Mexico. During that entire time period, battlefield casualties are estimated to be anywhere from 275 to 569 in total, miniscule compared to the combined 8,796 murdered people in Detroit during those same years.

Memphis

The Home of the Blues also happens to breed some of the toughest people in America. Shootings and murders are a regular occurrence in the city, and many children fall asleep to the soothing tones of police sirens and gunshots. The city’s old money and lack of upward mobility has been a death sentence for the large minority population struggling to pull itself out of poverty. As a result, its high crime claimed the lives of 302 people in 2022, and it shows no signs of stopping. Locals know where not to stay after sunset, and Memphis police has lowered its entry standards, no longer required college credits, military service, or previous law enforcement experience, and merely asked for two years work experience – any work experience. Memphis police has gotten so desperate that it has considered hiring officers with criminal backgrounds.

It may be hard to believe, but Memphis has suffered more deaths than the entire Ghost Dance War. This event, burned into the collective memory of the Lakota people and all Native Americans, lasted from 1890 – 1891. What started as a native religious revival erupted into violence as US troops attempted to confiscate Native weapons and land. The entire war was over in about a month, with approximately 300 natives killed.

If you live in any of these cities, it would be in your best interests to consider affordable personal protection, especially if you work in the security field. The most common round used in gun-related crime is the 9mm, and BulletSafe’s comfortable, concealable NIJ-Certified VP3 vests are available for only $299.99. Capable of defeating most handgun calibers up to .44 Magnum. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author alone and do not reflect the opinions and views of bulletsafe.com

This article was previously published on gunlove.com and has been updated as of January 24,2023.

In the early weeks of January 2023, three separate mass shootings rocked the state of California within 44 hours, but those are only the ones that received media attention. In reality, there have already been 47 mass shootings this year, and it's only January.

As of this writing, there have been 5,182 mass shootings in the United States since 2013, with 549 in 2022 alone. More than five thousand people have been killed in a mass shooting, while only about 200 people have died from lightning strikes within the same time frame. According to the mass shooting tracker website, an average of 1.96 shootings happen every day. In these uncertain times, when it’s literally more likely to die from a mass shooting than from a lightning strike, it should be the responsibility of the average American to prepare for the worst.

The very fact tragedies like this happen so often should be a wakeup call to everyone. Nothing stops a bad guy with a gun better than a good guy with a gun, but the problem seems to be there aren’t enough good guys willing to carry guns.

To survive a mass shooting and save the lives of the innocents around you, a firearm by your side is the best insurance policy. Based on a study of the police response times of the ten most populated US cities, it takes the police an average of 8.6 minutes to arrive at the scene of an active shooting, while it takes mere seconds for a well-trained shooter to draw his or her weapon and neutralize a target. A mass shooter is usually either inexperienced, drug-addled, overconfident or all three. A well-trained good guy with adrenaline pumping through his veins will be able to end a threat well before a police officer arrives on the scene. Within the first five minutes of a mass shooting, everyone in the area will run for cover. It usually takes five minutes for someone to remember to call 911, and by the time first responders arrive, the incident will have been well over.

If, for some reason, you find yourself at an establishment which does not allow you to bring in your firearm, and in the event you choose to follow the establishment’s guidelines (unlike Elisjsha Dicken, hero of the Greenwood Park Mall shooting), you may find yourself at a distinct disadvantage in case a raging lunatic bursts through the doors and starts blasting away.

Fortunately, the FBI has a detailed step-by-step plan to survive such an event. Simply called “Run. Hide. Fight,” this plan is designed to help the average unarmed bystander avoid the carnage of a mass shooting.

Run

If you are completely outmatched in a fight, the most obvious thing to do is run. There is no shame in running if the alternative is death. You don’t necessarily need to find marked escape exits – these are designed for fires and natural disasters. The threat here is mobile and can go wherever you go. The nearest exit is always your best option. Windows that exit to street level (for example, those in a classroom) are probably a quicker escape path than the main exit.

Begin running as soon as you hear gunfire and feel threatened. Do not attempt to reason with the shooter. Yelling at him to stop will do nothing but make yourself a target. Criminals are rarely – if ever – deterred by words alone, and attempting to negotiate with a man who sees you as nothing but a target is a bad idea. Do not wait for everyone around you to react. If you are carrying anything, drop it. You will run faster if you are unhindered by a shopping bag or a backpack. Help others escape if possible. If you end up making a wrong turn into a room without a backdoor, do your best to barricade it.

Hide

A mass shooter can shoot at locks and hinges, so it may be best to rely on improvised barricades. The old “chair under the doorknob” barricade only works if the door opens outwards and not towards you. It’s important to note that the backrest should be between the door and the door frame. Piling heavy objects up against a door can be unsuccessful against a door that opens inwards unless the heavy objects form a solid block to the other end of the room.

It should also go without saying that you should remain as quiet as possible. Phones should be completely silent – vibration should be off. If possible, hide behind objects you were not able to use for your barricade. Your hiding place should be out of the shooter’s view and provide sufficient protection just in case the mass shooter gets through.

That said, not many types of household furniture will stop a bullet. A 9mm hollow point round will go through more than a dozen layers of dry wall, which means a shooter blasting away at the poor unfortunates in the room next to yours could still injure you. If you think the steel door between you and the shooter is enough to stop a bullet, know that most steel doors are less than an inch thick and will likely be penetrated. An office cubicle offers concealment rather than cover, and just like walls, bullets will pass through multiple cubicles before stopping. Turning over a table to use as cover like they do in Hollywood will not provide protection from even smaller calibers like 9mm rounds. However, a .223 or 5.56x45mm round can be stopped by a cinder block or a sturdy wall made of cement or brick. It’s a good practice to lie as flat as you can on the ground, since the shooter will most likely be shooting from a standing position and his shots will land above the waist level.

Once you believe your room is secure enough, turn off all the lights and hope the shooter will believe the room is empty.

Fight

When all else fails and you have nowhere to go, be prepared to fight.

If your room is completely dark, you have the advantage. Set up an ambush position in the blind spot of an inward facing door to attack the mass shooter as soon as he steps into the room. If you have others with you, attack him from multiple directions. He can only shoot at one target before someone else gets to him.

If your state allows it, try your best to always carry a blade with you. They aren’t typically limited in the same ways firearms are, and usually prove very handy in everyday situations, even more so in a life-or-death scenario like this. In a pinch, you can also use a fire extinguisher to distract the mass shooter by both spraying him with it or hitting him over the head.

If you do have a knife, keep in mind the mass shooter may be armored. Target your assailant’s hands so he drops his weapon; alternatively go for the eyes to blind, the groin to incapacitate or the throat to kill. This is a mass shooter – no sitting jury would ever rule against you. Fight dirty, your life is on the line. The human body is not limited to punching and kicking. Choke or bite your assailant if you can.

When the chaos is over and the police arrive, be sure to put your hands up and follow all instructions. It can still go very badly for you if you don’t. As a historical example: in 1976 during Operation Entebbe, Israeli commandos rescued their countrymen being held hostage by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The commandos entered the room where the hostages were being held and ordered everyone to get down. One hostage, Jean-Jacques Mimouni, leapt for joy when he saw his rescuers and was immediately shot dead, having been mistaken for a hostage taker.

With this in mind, keep your hands visible at all times, discard any weapons you might have with you, and know that help for the injured is on the way. Alert the authorities to any casualties or people who you know are missing from your group and follow their instructions to evacuate from the active crime scene.

Now that you know what to do in the event of a mass shooting in your area, hopefully you will be better prepared for it should it ever happen to you. However, the best policy, in this author’s opinion, is to be armed and ready to return fire at a moment’s notice.

For additional resources, visit the FBI’s active shooter page here.