FBI Stats Show Detroit Remains Nation’s Murder Capital

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Detroit remained the nation’s murder capital in 1986 for the second straight year, and a city council member has laid the blame squarely on handguns.

″Our stats are so high in homicide because of the solving of problems with handguns,″ Councilwoman Maryann Mahaffey said Sunday in Detroit. ″We’ve got too many handguns out there, and people are not learning how to solve problems without violence.″

Mahaffey said she plans to reintroduce a proposal for a gun freeze ordinance within the next few weeks.

Detroit had 648 homicides last year, or 59 homicides per 100,000 people, the highest murder rate for any of the 184 U.S. cities with more than 100,000 residents, according to 1986 crime figures released by the FBI on Saturday.

Fort Worth, Texas, was second in the rate of homicides in 1986 at 46.2 per 100,000, followed by St. Louis, Mo., 44.9; Atlanta, 41.7; Flint, 40.6; Miami, 37.3; Richmond, Va., 36.4; Newark, N.J., 35.4; New Orleans 34.9; and Oakland, Calif., 34.8.

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago reported more homicides, but their larger populations resulted in a lower per capita rate.

Detroit, the nation’s sixth-largest city with 1.1 million people, also led major U.S. cities in 1985 with 58.2 homicides per 100,000 people.

Detroit City Councilman John W. Peoples agreed that gun control would deter crime.

″Obviously we need gun control laws,″ Peoples said. ″At least you would get the gun out of the home and remove it as a temptation when people have domestic problems.″

Nationwide, serious reported crimes rose 6 percent last year, the biggest increase in seven years, the FBI said.