Today, the Biden Administration is announcing additional actions to reduce gun crime and make communities safer. This plan builds on the steps the President has taken since the beginning of his Administration to stop the flow of guns being used in crimes, bolster federal, state, and local law enforcement, invest in community-based programs that prevent, interrupt, and reduce violence, expand opportunity, lower recidivism, and increase funding for community policing.
The President is committed to serving as a strong partner for communities on the frontlines of the fight against crime. That's why his American Rescue Plan gives cities and states historic levels of funding that they can use to put more cops on the beat, and invest in community-based violence prevention and intervention programs.
President Biden also recognizes the important role that federal law enforcement plays in supporting their local partners - especially in stopping the interstate flow of guns used in crimes, like the gun that was used in the tragic recent fatal shooting of two NYPD officers. The Department of Justice has launched five gun trafficking strike forces, including one in New York City, and it has implemented a nationwide strategy to combat violent crime, which has focused over the past year in taking violent criminals and thousands of crime guns off the streets.
Stronger law enforcement is critical in stopping gun crime, but it's made more effective when we make real investments in making our communities stronger and in addressing the causes of crime before it spills over into violence. That's why President Biden's comprehensive approach makes sure cities and states have the funding, training, and know-how they need to invest in proven tactics including community policing, street outreach by credible messengers, hospital-based intervention, and youth programming. And it's bolstered by additional funding to create economic opportunity with job training, expand after-school activities, and provide stable housing and other stabilizing supports necessary to reduce recidivism and help formerly incarcerated individuals reenter their communities. That's also why the President continues to urge Congress to act on his $300 million budget request to more than double the size of the Department of Justice's COPS community policing grant program.
Taken together, this strategy steps up and focuses law enforcement efforts on violent offenders, stems the trafficking of illegal guns, and makes real investments in communities to intervene in and prevent gun violence. The President knows a complex and devastating challenge like the surge of gun crime we've seen over the last two years requires an ambitious, evidence-based response that uses every tool at our disposal, and that's exactly what his plan does.
The President's Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Gun Crime
Last June, President Biden announced a five-part, comprehensive strategy to tackle the persistent spike in gun crime cities across the country have experienced since the start of the pandemic. The President's strategy:
- Stems the flow of firearms used to commit violence,
- Supports local law enforcement with federal tools and resources to address violent crime,
- Invests in evidence-based community violence interventions,
- Expands summer programming, employment opportunities, and other services and supports for teenagers and young adults, and
- Helps formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter their communities.
New Actions to Implement the President's Comprehensive Strategy
Surging Efforts to Enforce Our Gun Laws and Keep Guns out of Dangerous Hands
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a set of important new actions to stem the flow of firearms used to commit violence and support local law enforcement partners in efforts to combat gun crime. The Justice Department will:
- Prioritize combating violent crime by directing every U.S. Attorney's Office nationwide to increase resources dedicated to district-specific violent crime strategies. The Justice Department will work with state and local law enforcement to address the most significant drivers of violence in each district, including to get repeat gun violence offenders off of our streets. New York City's Gun Violence Strategic Partnership - which the President and Attorney General will visit today with Mayor Eric Adams - is one model of the strategies Justice will help expand nationwide.
- Crack down on the "Iron Pipeline" - the illegal flow of guns sold in the south, transported up the East Coast, and found at crime scenes in cities from Baltimore to New York City - and other firearms trafficking by adding personnel and other resources to strengthen the Justice Department's multijurisdictional task forces that target interstate firearms trafficking.
- Launch a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, which will train a national cadre of prosecutors and disseminate investigation and prosecution tools to help bring cases against those who use ghost guns to commit crimes.
- Pursue unlawful gun sellers that put firearms in the wrong hands by taking steps such as prioritizing federal prosecutions of those who criminally sell or transfer firearms that are used in violent crimes, including unlicensed dealers who sell guns to criminals without the required background checks.
