US launching initiative to reduce gun violence, claims Biden

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
3 Feb 2022 23:49
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The US, one of the world's worst places when it comes to gun violence and one of the only ones with frequent mass shootings, is finally taking a stance on guns.

Protesters in Sydney’s Hyde Park march in solidarity with victims of US gun violence March 27, 2018

The United States is launching a new major initiative as part of Washington's efforts to reduce gun violence in the country, President Joe Biden claimed Thursday.

"Today, the Department [of Justice] is launching intensified National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative to deter criminals from using weapons," Biden told an NYC meeting of federal and state officials.

Biden highlighted that Attorney General Merrick Garland directed all of the country's attorneys to prioritize combating domestic gun trafficking.

The federal government will cooperate with state and local law enforcement to address the most significant sources of violence in each area, a White House statement said.

The Biden administration stressed its commitment to deploying more personnel and additional resources to bolster the nation's ability to crack down on the so-called Iron Pipeline, the name the US attributed to the flow of guns circulating across the country, along with other firearms trafficking.

US authorities are also going cracking down harder on illegal gun sellers creating a black market arms trade by prioritizing the federal prosecutions of those who criminally sell or transfer firearms that are used in violent crimes, the White House further said.

Biden had requested a budget of $300 million to more than double the size of the DoJ's COPS community policing grant program.

According to the administration, this strategy would step up and focus law enforcement efforts on violent offenders, stem the trafficking of illegal guns, and make real investments in communities to intervene in and prevent gun violence.

One of the actions the DoJ will be implementing is launching a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, which will see Washington training a national cadre of prosecutors and disseminating investigation and prosecution tools to help bring cases against those who use ghost guns to commit crimes.

A "ghost gun" is one that lacks commercial serial numbers, making it nearly impossible to track the weapon's owner in case it was found on a crime scene or connected to a crime in one way or another, and they are illegal in the United States.

Mass shootings ravage the United States on daily basis, with nearly 20,500 dying of gun violence in 2021 alone, more than 300 of which were children, a hike from 2020.