Attorney General William Barr has announced the formation of a working group to bolster efforts by U.S. attorneys to crack down on domestic abusers who have guns, The Trace reports. The working group will comprise nine U.S. attorneys from across the country, including officials from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio and California. Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, will chair the group.
The number of federal weapons prosecutions this fiscal year is projected to be up 11.2 percent compared to one year ago, according to an analysis from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) database. U.S. attorneys in several districts have zeroed in on convictions related to domestic violence and guns. According to data provided by the Department of Justice, there has been an 80 percent increase over the last two years in the number of people charged under the federal law banning those convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor from possessing firearms. In fiscal year 2018, 197 defendants were prosecuted, up from 110 in fiscal year 2016.