As President Obama continues pushing gun control legislation in America, new research shows African-Americans in Missouri are in need of reform the most. Missouri leads the nation in Black homicide victims for the third year in the row, according to Black Victimization in the United States, a report by the Violence Policy Center.

In 2010, there were 255 Black homicide victims in Missouri, resulting in a homicide rate of 33.86 per 100,000, seven times the national overall rate which is 4.42 per 100,000. For cases in which the weapon used in homicide could be identified, it was found that 91 percent of Black victims were killed with guns.  

The study also breaks down alarming statistics about the Black homicide victimization rate nationwide:

For the year 2010, Blacks represented 13 percent of the nation’s population, yet accounted for 49 percent of all homicide victims.

For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 83 percent of Black victims (5,073 out of 6,149) were killed with guns. Of these, 72 percent (3,658 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 617 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 219 victims killed by bodily force, and 162 victims killed by a blunt object.

For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 70 percent of Black victims (2,146 out of 3,058) were murdered by someone they knew. Nine hundred twelve victims were killed by strangers.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nebraska followed Missouri on the list of states with the highest Black homicide victimization rate.

Read the full report here.

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(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)