Pennsylvania has the highest black homicide rate in the nation, according to a report released last week.

The homicide rate, 29.52 black victims per 100,000 black people, is more than 1.5 times the national average black homicide rate of 18.71 per 100,000, according to the Violence Policy Center, which authored the report.

The national homicide rate for all races is 4.86 per 100,000, according to the report, which is based on unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation data from 2004.

State College Police Sgt. Chris Fishel said there were two actual or attempted homicides in 2003 in State College, and neither victim was black. In 2004, one black woman was strangled.

However, State College has recently faced a high profile black homicide case.

Langston Carraway, 26, who is black, was found stabbed to death June 5 on a couch in his apartment, 110 Northbrook Lane, State College police said. His death was ruled a homicide, according to court documents.

Former Penn State football player LaVon Chisley has been charged with his murder.

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center and co-author of the report, said the report did not examine the data by city or county, but he said other reports had indicated that major cities such as Philadelphia played a significant role in the high rate.

The Central Pennsylvania Common Human Services Region, which includes Centre County, reported 27 actual or attempted homicides in 2004, according to national Uniform Crime Reporting System data.

Sugarmann said the goal of the report was to localize the black homicide problem.

"It's a problem that has been there historically and unfortunately, it does not get the attention it deserves," he said. "There's a tendency for people to think it happens someplace else. By breaking it out state by state, it puts it in a sharper perspective for many people."

For homicides with an identifiable weapon, 86 percent of victims were killed with firearms -- mostly handguns -- according to the report.

Sugarmann said states needed stricter gun laws to help reduce homicides.

"The key message that comes out of this study is that you cannot talk about black homicide victimization without talking about guns," he said. "We have to identify strategies to limit access to certain categories of weapons."

Pennsylvania has relatively lax gun laws compared with other states, Sugarmann said. He said other states with high black homicide rates, such as Louisiana and Nevada, also had lax laws. However, other states with high rates, such as California and Maryland, had relatively strict laws, he said.

Jack Lewis, spokesman for Pennsylvania State Police, said the "vast majority" of black homicides were in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, which the state police do not cover.

However, Lewis agreed that hand guns were definitely a problem in Pennsylvania. He said state police are working on a task force with federal authorities to track handguns coming into the state.

Penn State's Black Caucus did not return multiple calls for comment.