The 10 States Most Dangerous For Police Officers

A manhunt is underway for a shooter after two NYPD police officers were shot in the Bronx just one day after a funeral was held for NYPD Det. Wenjian Liu, who, along with his partner, Rafael Ramos, was killed in December. The second shooting of New York police officers in less than three weeks has left the city — and the police department — feeling uneasy. The officers are expected to live, but there's even more tension between police officers and Mayor Bill de Blasio over what some officers see as a lack of support for the force.

But, where are police officers most at risk? According to the FBI's most recent "Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted" report, it's not New York. The majority of assaults on police with a firearm occurred in the South — an area of the United States known for loving guns. In 2012 and 2013, there were more than 4,500 police officers in the country who were victims of a assault with a firearm. Of the 76 officers who were feloniously killed in that time period, 92 percent died because they were shot.

Though a recent release by the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund states that police officer deaths are up 56 percent in 2014, the FBI data is not yet available for last year, and the nonprofit organization's report numbers often differ from the FBI's. According to the FBI's reports from 2012 and 2013, these are the states in which police officers are most likely to be shot.

10. Colorado

In those two years, 134 Colorado police officers were assaulted with a firearm. In 2014, a federal judge upheld gun-control laws that were implemented in the state the year before.

9. South Carolina

South Carolina, where a lawmaker wants to create a "Second Amendment Awareness Day" on the day after the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, saw 136 shooting assaults on police officers.

8. North Carolina

In North Carolina, 190 police officers were shot, including 23-year-old Officer William Ronald Mast Jr. A fallen officer memorial was dedicated in the county two years after his death.

7. Missouri

Gun sales rose in Missouri right before the Ferguson grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown. In 2012 and 2013, there were 284 police officers shot in the state.

6. Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania, where Eric Frein ambushed police barracks in September, killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounding another state trooper, had 311 firearm assaults on police officers.

5. Arizona

There were 370 shootings of law enforcement officers in two years in Arizona, which has some of the most lenient gun-control laws in the United States.

4. Texas

In Texas, where gun activist group Open Carry Texas advocates for the unlicensed open carry of handguns, there were 371 police shootings.

3. Tennessee

Gun manufacturer Beretta USA moved from Maryland to Tennessee last year over worries about increasingly stricter gun laws. Tennessee, like Texas, saw 371 firearm assaults on a police officer.

2. Florida

A community in Florida just mourned the loss of Officer Charles Kondek, a member of the Tarpon Springs police force who was killed by a fugitive in December. There were 373 shooting assaults on police officers in Florida.

1. California

California nearly doubled Florida, with 739 firearm assaults on law enforcement officers in 2012 and 2013. In November, a federal appeals panel ruled that state officials and advocacy groups could not challenge rules that eased restrictions on carrying concealed guns.

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