Biden to let communities repurpose COVID relief money to stop gun crime

President Joe Biden planned to announce a "comprehensive strategy" to combat rising gun violence, the White House said.

President Joe Biden plans to announce on Wednesday a range of actions targeting rising gun violence, according to the White House, as homicide rates jump heading into the summer months -- and Republicans blame him for it. The president will lay out a "comprehensive strategy" that will target law-breaking gun dealers, provide federal resources to police departments for gun-crime enforcement and allow communities to repurpose millions of dollars of federal coronavirus relief funding for programs proven to prevent gun violence, according to the White House. In doing so, Biden is seeking to establish his footing amid GOP attacks over increased violent crime in American cities, many of which are run by Democrats. Gun violence has driven much of that increase recently and Biden plans to frame the issue through that prism -- unlike Republicans, who blame high homicide rates on Democrats who called for police funding to be cut last year.