Biden to launch national effort to fight gun violence and violent crime

Garland announced $1 billion in grants "to support evidence-based community violence intervention strategies."Garland also announced new efforts to combat gun violence, with greater enforcement for gun dealers who break the law, and by seeking funding to aid the ATF's dealer inspection capacity and improve its effectiveness."Starting today, ATF will make clear to investigators in every field division that, as they prioritize inspections, they must consider the extent to which firearms sold by a dealer are later used in criminal activity," Garland said.Garland also announced that the Justice Department will "improve information sharing" with state, local, tribal and territorial partners, as well as "a concerted effort to crack down on gun traffickers.""The Justice Department's violent crime reduction strategy, and our initiatives to stem the rising tide of illegal guns, will save lives," Garland said. Success depends on all of us joining together – those of you in this room, the many like you across the country who are working to keep communities safe, and the people of our communities themselves."Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters on Wednesday that he believed the White House was "misdiagnosing the problem" with the newly announced approach to combat gun violence and violent crime."There's nothing in this five-point plan that I think addresses the root cause of the problem, which is lack of prosecution and a sense that the cops are afraid to do their job," said Graham, who is one of the senators involved in bipartisan negotiations on police reform legislation. "You've got to reinforce policing as a noble profession, you've got to tell prosecutors, 'start prosecuting people,' because there's a sense of lawlessness out there that's not being addressed."The Republican National Committee also released a statement on Wednesday condemning the Biden administration's response to violent crime."Actions speak louder than words, and President Biden's failure to hold his own party accountable for defunding police is endangering communities and triggering a spike in crime across the country," said RNC chair Ronna McDaniel in a statement.President Biden is unveiling a new initiative aimed at tackling what he calls the nation's "gun violence epidemic." The administration's initiatives include stemming the flow of illegal guns, supporting local law enforcement and investing in community violence intervention methods. According to the White House, the plan will consist of five parts:"Stem the flow of firearms used to commit violence, including by holding rogue firearms dealers accountable for violating federal laws": Senior administration officials said this will include a new Justice Department "zero tolerance" policy, where ATF will revoke the licenses of gun dealers after the first time they willfully violate gun laws."Support local law enforcement with federal tools and resources to help address summer violent crime": The Treasury Department will announce Wednesday that communities that have experienced a rise in gun violence due to the pandemic will be allowed to use funds from the American Rescue Plan to go toward law enforcement hiring and overtime, prevention programs and technology.