Violence

Violence is deliberate harm from other people, and it tends to rise when normal order breaks down. It shows up as desperation-driven crime after a disaster, civil unrest, conflict between people under stress, and attacks on crowded public places. We plan for it the way we plan for every threat: with prevention, avoidance and calm judgment, and with confrontation as the last choice.

Violence matters to every family, in a big city or a small town. Crowds under stress, competition for scarce resources and breakdowns in authority all raise the odds of trouble. A self-sufficient household makes fewer trips into those crowds. Discretion about your supplies keeps you from becoming a target, and good relationships with neighbors make the whole street safer. In every case your priority holds steady: protect life, reach safety and stay within the law, because possessions can be replaced.

Guides on Violence and Family Safety

• Active shooters: Learn the choices that matter during an attack in a public place, so you know how to survive an active shooter event.
• Mass shootings: See how the pattern of mass shootings in America developed through 2021.
• Shooting deaths: Follow the national rise in gun violence and what it means for your family's planning.
• Nuclear targets: Find out which U.S. nuclear target cities are most often named and how that relates to where you live.

Start with the active shooter guide. It turns awareness into a plan you can rehearse with your family this weekend.