White House Creates Gun Trafficking Strike Force For Los Angeles
LAPPL News Watch
July 13, 2021
The
White House announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice
launched a gun trafficking strike force in Los Angeles to prevent guns
coming across state lines from areas with weaker gun laws.
The funding
for the strike forces -- which will also be in New York, Chicago,
Washington, D.C., the Bay Area -- comes from the $1.9 trillion American
Rescue Plan, according to the White House.
The strike forces will work
to combat gun violence by targeting firearms that enter from other
states with less restrictive gun laws.
"With gun violence surging by 70%
here in Los Angeles for the first four months of this year, the latest
actions by the Biden Administration are timely and needed," said Los
Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer who also co-chairs Prosecutors Against
Gun Violence, a coalition of 46 prosecutors working toward solutions to
end gun violence. "I've spoken at length with the ATF special agent
in-charge of this effort in L.A., and welcome the Department of
Justice's gun trafficking strike force as a much needed ingredient in
getting a handle on illegal crime guns in our city," Feuer added.
Los
Angeles, like other cities across the U.S., has experienced an increase
in shooting violence and homicides amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As of
June 22, the number of shooting victims in 2021 had increased by 50%
compared to the same period last year.
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