Newark Mayor, Top Cop ‘Grateful’ To Biden For Gun Violence Plan

NEWARK, NJ — President Joe Biden has vowed to break the “Iron Pipeline” that flows through New Jersey, among other states. And according to Newark’s mayor and public safety director, the president’s latest plan to reduce gun violence lines up well with the Brick City’s own blueprint.

Biden visited nearby New York City on Thursday for a high-profile news conference amid a resurgent wave of shootings, including one that claimed the lives of two NYPD officers.

Biden unveiled a national crackdown on unregistered "ghost guns" — a recent scourge that has caused growing concerns from city and state officials. Confiscations of those untraceable ghost guns in the city surged 700 percent, officials said. He also highlighted recent efforts to halt the "Iron Pipeline" — the term for the flow of illegal guns into big cities — and said his administration will help every major city form collaborative groups such as the Gun Violence Strategies Partnership, which meeting they were attending.

• Read More: Biden Vows To Break NYC's 'Iron Pipeline' Of Guns

After the president’s visit, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara both expressed “earnest gratitude” for Biden’s partnership with the City of Newark and other major U.S. cities.

According to Baraka and O’Hara, the resources proposed in Biden’s strategy – namely a $300 million budget request to Congress – is essential to stem the flow of firearms along the so-called Iron Pipeline, which flows from the south through New Jersey.

Newark, the state’s largest city, serves as a direct access point to gun traffickers due to its proximity to the Interstate 95 corridor, Baraka and O’Hara said.

“We are pleased that these resources will also support our efforts against ghost guns,” the officials said in a joint statement.

They continued:

“Newark police reported an explosive increase of 414 percent in ghost gun recoveries in year 2021 when compared to year 2020. In fact, on the very day President Biden announced his plan to address gun crime, our detectives recovered a ghost gun with a 50-round magazine during the execution of a search warrant (see above photo). These are weapons of war that have no place in Newark neighborhoods.”

Baraka and O’Hara said the president’s plan to provide funding to cities through his American Recue Plan “solidly coincides” with Newark’s own Violence Reduction Initiative.

• See related article: Anti-Violence Plan In Newark Paying Off With Arrests, Police Say

Baraka and O’Hara also praised the Biden Administration’s proposed $5 billion investment in “evidence-based community violence interventions,” an effort to partner law enforcement with community groups and nonprofits.

• See related article: Newark Taps Social Workers, Community To Slow Uptick In Violence
• See related article: Violent Crime Up In Newark For 2021, But Down Over 3-Year Period

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