According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, Atlanta recorded 141 homicides in 2006, down from 151 in 2004. In 2007 Dekalb County had a record 102 murders, Clayton County ammassed 56 murders, and unincorparted parts of Fulton County (East Point, College Park, Union City) recorded 75. All together the immediate inner core 5 county area of Metro Atlanta (Cobb, Clayton, Fulton, Gwinnett and Dekalb Counties) recorded 487 murders in 2007. However, Atlanta's incident rate for violent crimes is higher than most other major US cities.

Atlanta's Mayor Franklin is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organisation formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

The city has been ranked as one of the top 25 most dangerous large cities list by Morgan Quitno, ranking worst since 1994; it is currently ranked as the 17th most dangerous big city. According to the crime statistics at City Data for Atlanta, the crime in the city is well above national average.