{"id":600737,"date":"2021-07-22T20:21:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T00:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=600737"},"modified":"2021-07-22T20:21:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T00:21:06","slug":"justice-dept-launches-regional-gun-trafficking-strike-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-dept-launches-regional-gun-trafficking-strike-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Dept Launches Regional Gun Trafficking Strike Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjustice-dept-launches-regional-gun-trafficking-strike-forces%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=600737&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Gun-trafficking.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced the launch of \u201cfive cross-jurisdictional strike forces\u201d intended to reduce gun violence and disrupt firearms unlawfully trafficked into what the agency described as \u201ckey regions of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The strike force regions include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco\/Sacramento area, and Washington D.C. According to the DOJ, the strike forces will be led by U.S. Attorneys \u201cwho will collaborate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and with state and local law enforcement partners within their own jurisdiction (where firearms are used in crimes) as well as law enforcement partners in areas where illegally trafficked guns originate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll too often, guns found at crime scenes come from hundreds or even thousands of miles away,\u201d said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement issued on Thursday. \u201cWe are redoubling our efforts as ATF works with law enforcement to track the movement of illegal firearms used in violent crimes. These strike forces enable sustained coordination across multiple jurisdictions to help disrupt the worst gun trafficking corridors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The move comes as cities across the country have experienced a summer surge in gun violence. Earlier this month, New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency to increase law enforcement in areas where shootings are on the rise.<\/p>\n<p>The strike forces are part of the DOJ\u2019s Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy, which was announced in May. It requires U.S. Attorneys\u2019 offices to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement \u201cto address significant drivers of violence in their districts,\u201d such as gun traffickers who provide weapons to individuals who commit violent offenses.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/merrick-garland-gun-trafficking-strike-force-justice-department\/\">According<\/a> to CBS News, \u201cATF is also embedding agents or task force officers with more than 45 local homicide units to coordinate efforts to curb violent crime, a Justice Department official told reporters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know that our job is to go after those that pull the trigger and end up critically injuring and in some cases murdering innocent people,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/merrick-garland-gun-trafficking-strike-force-justice-department\/\">said<\/a> Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. \u201cBut our job is also of course to go after the sources of those guns, the corridors that they travel in and the networks that feed those guns to the places where they are doing the most violent crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/health-government-and-politics-shootings-coronavirus-pandemic-gun-politics-fc16e2a1a4571be552d82def7bd5e781\">More details<\/a> from the Associated Press:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"14\">\n<p><em>There is no federal gun trafficking law, so federal agents often must rely on other statutes, like lying on a firearms purchase form, to prosecute gun trafficking cases or stop straw purchasers, people who buy weapons legally to then provide them to others who can\u2019t legally have them.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Officials hope the new plan will mean federal prosecutors in some of the supply cities will be more likely to bring charges in those cases.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After Attorney General Garland announced the formation of the strike forces Thursday in Washington D.C., he traveled to Chicago to meet with Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot, police, and community leaders. As The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/chicago-violence-three-mass-shootings-in-six-hours-leave-at-least-1-dead-28-wounded\">reported<\/a>, Chicago had experienced three mass shootings over the course of six hours on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>According to the AP, residents of some predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago are concerned the new task forces will result in more police in their communities.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ cited gun trace data that found \u201ca significant number\u201d of firearms recovered in Chicago are illegally trafficked into the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStraw purchasers and unlicensed gun sellers enable violence,\u201d said John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who will oversee the task force in Chicago. \u201cThis cross-jurisdictional strike force will increase collaboration with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, and enhance our longstanding efforts to hold accountable individuals or groups who illegally traffic firearms into Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/chicago-violence-three-mass-shootings-in-six-hours-leave-at-least-1-dead-28-wounded\">Chicago Violence: Three Mass Shootings In Six Hours Leave At Least 1 Dead, 28 Wounded<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced the launch of \u201cfive cross-jurisdictional strike forces\u201d intended to reduce gun violence and disrupt firearms unlawfully trafficked into what the agency described &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}