President Joe Biden pledged Wednesday to go after illegal gun dealers and boost federal funding and support for local law enforcement as homicide rates have spiked in large cities.
“Merchants of death are breaking the law for profit,” Biden said, adding the administration will have “zero tolerance” for rogue firearms dealers accountable for violating federal laws.
He said the government also will help states employ more police officers using funds already approved to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My message to you is this,” Biden said, addressing gun dealers who “willfully” break the law. “We will find you and we’ll seek your license to sell guns. We’ll make sure you can’t sell death and mayhem on our streets.”
Republicans blasted the measures as government overreach and linked it to efforts to rein in policing.
“I think a lot of it ties back to this whole ‘defund the police’ movement and some of the disruption we had in civil society last year,” said Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said on Fox News. “And I think that’s part of, when you start undermining that basic foundation, you start breaking apart the bonds that hold us together and that’s why you see an increase in crime.”
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{Matzav.com}
