Biden heads to New York City to highlight combating gun crime

President Joe Biden travels to New York City to meet with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday where he will announce new actions targeting gun violence.

Days after two police officers were killed by a suspect using an illegal gun, President Joe Biden is heading to New York City Thursday to meet with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul and to announce new actions targeting gun violence that the White House says builds on his "comprehensive strategy" unveiled last June.

Senior administration officials said on a call with reporters Wednesday evening that Biden is going to New York City "because it is a community where they continue, like many other cities across the country, to experience a spike in gun violence."

Biden, traveling with Attorney General Merrick Garland, will highlight a set of new actions from the Justice Department which include directing all U.S. Attorney's Offices to increase resources dedicated to district-specific violent crime strategies, and increasing personnel and other resources to strengthen task forces that target the illegal flow of guns up the East Coast, similar to the one that was used in the recent fatal shooting of two NYPD officers.

The Department of Justice will also take steps to prioritize federal prosecutions of those who "criminally sell or transfer firearms that are used in violent crimes" and launch a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative to help bring cases against those who use so-called "ghost guns" to commit crimes.