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Post by pelicanguy on Jan 31, 2007 10:36:55 GMT -5
Louisiana second in the nation in black homicides
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania leads the nation in the rate of black homicides, with nearly 30 deaths a year for each 100,000 black residents, and Louisiana is a close No. 2, according to a study released Monday by a nonprofit research group.
Firearms, especially handguns, were used in the overwhelming majority of the nation's 6,644 slayings with black victims, according to the Violence Policy Center, which supports gun-control efforts. Eighty-five percent of black victims were male.
Pennsylvania recorded 29.52 homicides per 100,000 black residents in 2004, the last year for which the FBI data was available. Louisiana had 29.48 and Indiana was third with 29.3.
The national rate of black homicides was 18.71 per 100,000.
The national homicide rate overall was 4.86 per 100,000 and the national rate for whites was 2.97 homicides per 100,000, the group reported.
"The toll that homicide exacts on black teens and young adults in America, both male and female, is disproportionate, disturbing, and undeniable," the study warned. "The unique facilitating role of firearms cannot be ignored."
For cases in which the weapon could be identified, 79 percent of the victims were killed with guns, and 80 percent of those deaths involved handguns, the study found.
The other states with high black homicide rates were: 4. California, 28.95 per 100,000; 5. Missouri, 28.63; 6. Michigan, 28.27; 7. Maryland, 24.64; 8. Minnesota, 24.45; 9. Nevada, 23.67; and 10. Arizona, 21.54.
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Post by dolphinfan on Feb 1, 2007 19:34:32 GMT -5
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