- The Washington Times - Monday, June 21, 2021

President Biden’s strategy to reduce the nation’s surge in violent crime and murder will focus on gun violence, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

Mr. Biden will announce his crime-fighting plan in a major speech Wednesday.

“The president feels a great deal of the crime we’re seeing is a result of gun violence,” Ms. Psaki said at a White House press briefing. “You can expect he’ll speak to that and his commitment to continuing to address gun violence and gun safety around the country.”

Officials from coast to coast are bracing for a summer spike in violent crimes as states lift COVID-19 restrictions and warmer weather brings people out.

Law enforcement agencies in major cities have already stepped up patrols and bolstering the number of officers on the street in high-crime neighborhoods.

Several U.S. cities are experiencing homicide tallies that are outpacing last year’s historic rates. On average, homicide rates in major U.S. cities are up roughly 30%, though the FBI won’t release complete statistics until September.

The Biden administration has been reluctant to address the issue of violent crime, an issue that Republicans have seized upon. GOP lawmakers have hammered the administration for being soft on crime and have tried to link it to the “defund the police” movement.

Mr. Biden has repeatedly insisted that he doesn’t support defunding the police.

Following a spate of mass shootings, Democrats and gun control groups have also put pressure on Mr. Biden to act on guns if not on crime in general.

Ms. Psaki acknowledged that both parties have pressed the administration on the rising crime trend, saying it is one that “shouldn’t be viewed through a partisan lens.”

While the specifics of the strategy remain vague, the Biden administration’s crime prevention efforts so far have made a priority of reducing gun violence.

The Justice Department this month proposed restrictions on stabilizing braces that transform a pistol into a short-barreled rifle. Under the proposal, the stabilizing braces must comply with height requirements, making them harder to conceal.

In addition, the department also unveiled model legislation for states to use to enact so-called red-flag laws. The laws enable family members, law enforcement, school officials and even health care providers to intervene and petition a court to take a gun away from an individual who may pose a threat to themselves and others.

Last month, the Justice Department proposed a rule that would reclassify the definition of a firearm to close the regulatory loophole that allows people to make ghost guns or guns made from do-it-yourself kits and don’t have serial numbers.

The Justice Department’s actions follow a slew of executive orders by Mr. Biden that aimed at curbing gun violence.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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