FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, ILL. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Illinois, Southern), published as received.
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Justice today launched five cross-jurisdictional
strike forces to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions
across the country. Leveraging existing resources, the regional strike forces will
better ensure sustained and focused coordination across jurisdictions and help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms from source cities, through other communities, and into five key
market regions: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento Region and Washington, D.C.
Each strike force region will be led by designated United States Attorneys, who 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. These
officials will use the latest data, evidence, and intelligence from crime scenes to
identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.
“All too often, guns found at crime scenes come from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. We 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,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Department of Justice will use all of its tools – enforcement, prevention, intervention, and investment – to help ensure the safety of our communities – the department’s highest priority.”
According to gun trace data, a significant number of firearms recovered in Chicago originate
outside the Chicago area. The new strike force will help ensure sustained and focused coordination
between law enforcement and prosecutors in Chicago and their counterparts in those other
locations. The Southern District of Illinois stands ready to assist in these efforts as needed.
The strike forces represent one important, concrete step in implementing the
Department’s Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy, which was announced on May
26, 2021. The comprehensive strategy supports local communities in preventing, investigating, and
prosecuting gun violence and other violent crime—and requires U.S. Attorneys’ offices to work with
federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, as well as the communities they serve,
to address the most significant drivers of violence in their districts. In guidance to federal
agents and prosecutors as part of that comprehensive strategy, the Deputy Attorney General made
clear that firearms traffickers
providing weapons to violent offenders are an enforcement priority across the country.
Since April 2021, the Department has taken the following steps to reduce and prevent violent crime,
especially the gun crime that is often at the core of the problem:
• April 8, 2021 – Attorney General Garland, alongside President Biden, announced four
concrete steps for addressing gun violence: ATF would propose a new rule within 30 days to help
curb the proliferation of so-called ghost guns, ATF would propose a new rule within 60 days on
stabilizing braces used to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, the Department would publish
model state extreme risk protection order legislation within 60 days; and ATF would begin preparing
a thorough and detailed new public study of firearms trafficking for the first time in 20 years.
• In April 2021, the Office of Justice Programs also made clear when existing grant
funds could be used to support Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs.
• On May 7, 2021, meeting the Attorney General’s announced timeline, ATF issued a
notice of proposed rulemaking to update outdated firearms definitions and to help address the
proliferation of ghost guns.
• May 26, 2021, the Attorney General announced the Department’s comprehensive strategy
to reduce violent crime, including an overall Department Violent Crime Reduction Strategy, the
strengthening of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), and a directive to U.S. Attorneys to work with
their local partners in addressing the increase in violence that typically occurs over the summer
(with specific support from DOJ law enforcement agencies)
• On June 7, meeting the Attorney General’s announced timeline, ATF issued a notice of
proposed rulemaking to clarify that the restrictions imposed by the National Firearms Act apply
when stabilizing braces are used to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles.
• On June 8, meeting the Attorney General’s announced timeline, the Department
published model state extreme risk protection order legislation.
• On June 22, 2021, the Attorney General announced that the Department would be
forming five Firearms Trafficking Strike Forces within 30 days.
On, June 23, 2021, the Attorney General, alongside President Biden, announced steps that ATF would take to hold rogue gun dealers accountable for their actions. They include applying a “no
tolerance” policy for federal firearms licensers (FFLs) that willfully commit violations
that endanger public safety; designating points of contact for state and local government
officials to report concerns about rogue FFLs; formalizing the use of public safety factors
for inspection prioritization; sharing inspection information with states that regulate
firearms dealers themselves; resuming the practice of notifying revoked dealers on how to
dispose of their inventory and the potential criminal consequences of continuing to engage
in the business; increasing ATF’s resources for inspections;and publicly posting disaggregated inspection information to ATF’s website.
