On Wednesday, President Joe Biden held a meeting in the White House on his administration’s plan to fight crime, with a particular focus on gun laws.
Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland met with a bipartisan group to discuss the president’s agenda – which seeks to decrease the number of firearms being circulated in the country and to provide cities with more federal funds for local programs and for financial aid with policing. Funding would total over $350 billion.
The agenda has five main focuses: clamp down on illegal gun dealers, provide funding for community violence prevention programs in major cities with the most gun violence, press Congress to pass tougher gun laws, increase opportunities for at-risk youth and refocus tax credits to aid past-incarcerated persons with returning to society.
Crimes related to gun violence have increased drastically since the start of the pandemic. Biden pointed out how crime usually rises during the summer every year but with the pandemic coming to an end, crime rates could be higher than in past years. “As we emerge from this pandemic, with the country opening back up again, the traditional summer spike may be more pronounced than it usually would be,” Biden said.
With many red states passing legislation loosening firearm restrictions and laws, such as Texas’ recent laws, Biden’s plans are arriving at a critical moment.
