Federal law enforcement authorities will step up background checks and gun-law enforcement in tighter partnerships with local police and anti-violence community groups, Attorney General William Barr announced, The New York Times reports. Barr described the initiative, called Project Guardian, as intended to help federal and local law enforcement “better target offenders who use guns in crimes and those who try to buy guns illegally.”
Emphasizing federal prosecution of gun crimes, much like past federal programs under Barr’s predecessor Jeff Sessions and earlier administrations, the program calls on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to provide state and local law enforcement with regular lists of people who have failed their background checks. And each federal prosecutor’s office will share more information with local law enforcement, and work with mental health organizations to assess whether treatment could improve public safety. Project Guardian is far less aggressive than the proposals the Justice Department sent to the White House over the summer and includes no new statutes or policies, which has opened it up to criticisms about its potential effectiveness. An initiative that focuses on enforcement and increased policing makes “no serious effort to address the supply of guns and how they fall into the hands of individuals who have proven themselves a danger to themselves or to others,” said Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a gun control advocacy group. Barr made his announcement in Memphis, which has high rates of gun crimes and where, one day earlier, police said a 12-year-old attempted an armed carjacking.