Washington, DC--Missouri leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization for the third year in a row according to a new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC).

The annual study, “Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2010 Homicide Data,” (http://www.vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide13.pdf) uses 2010 data--the most recent data available from the FBI--and ranks the 50 states according to their black homicide victimization rates. The vast majority of victims nationwide--83 percent--were shot and killed with firearms, primarily handguns. In Missouri, 91 percent of victims were killed with guns.

The top 10 states with each state's corresponding black homicide victimization rate are:

http://www.vpc.org/press/1301homicide.htm