Readout of White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Briefing with Local Leaders, Public Safety Officials and Violence Intervention Organizations on President Biden’s Budget Proposals Aimed at Reducing Gun Violence and Violent Crime

On Tuesday, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) virtually convened nearly 300 leaders from across the nation to provide further details and answer questions related to the President’s budget proposals to keep communities safe from gun violence. The attendees included state and local leaders, public safety officials, and organizations focused on reducing community violence.

During the virtual briefing, OGVP Deputy Directors Gregory Jackson and Rob Wilcox highlighted key parts of the President’s budget proposal including, but not limited to:

• $7.3 billion to replenish the Crime Victims Fund to better support survivors and families of those lost to gun violence;
• $5 billion to expand Community Violence Intervention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Justice (DOJ) over the next 10 years;
• $17.7 billion for DOJ law enforcement, including $2 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which represents an increase of more than 30 percent since 2021;
• $800 million in increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act programs to combat gender-based violence;
• $10.9 billion in support of the President’s goal to recruit, train, support, and hire 100,000 additional police officers for effective, accountable community policing;
• $1.2 billion over five years to launch a new Violent Crime Reduction and Prevention Fund to give federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement the dedicated, seasoned support they need to focus on violent crime;
• $60 million to expand research on the causes, impacts and solutions to gun violence; and
• $51 million to support the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) implementation of the enhanced background checks for attempted buyers of firearms under 21, which was created by the BSCA.

During the briefing, OGVP also discussed how communities are already seeing the positive impacts of the President’s strategy to prevent and reduce crime and gun violence nationwide. Cities around the country are experiencing historic declines in violent crime, and homicides are estimated to be down nationally 12% from 2022 to 2023. By comparison, during the final year of the prior administration in 2020, the United States saw the largest increase in murders ever recorded. Key provisions created by the BSCA are starting to deliver results to protect communities from gun violence, including enhanced background check provisions that have enabled the DOJ to stop more than 600 illegal gun purchases by prohibited persons under 21 years old and the first-ever federal gun trafficking and straw purchasing law.

More information on the President’s budget to reduce crime and make our communities safer can be found here.

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