Attorney General announces launch of Project Guardian

Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Project Guardian, a new initiative designed to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws across the country. Specifically, Project Guardian focuses on investigating, prosecuting, and preventing gun crimes.  “Gun crime remains a pervasive problem in too many communities across America. Today, the Department of Justice is redoubling its commitment to tackling this issue through the launch of Project Guardian,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. Reducing gun violence and enforcing federal firearms laws have always been among the Department’s highest priorities. In order to develop a new and robust effort to promote and ensure public safety, the Department reviewed and adapted some of the successes of past strategies to curb gun violence. Project Guardian draws on the Department’s earlier achievements, such as the “Triggerlock” program, and it serves as a complementary effort to the success of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In addition, the initiative emphasizes the importance of using all modern technologies available to law enforcement to promote gun crime intelligence. “Building on the success of past programs like Triggerlock, Project Guardian will strengthen our efforts to reduce gun violence by allowing the federal government and our state and local partners to better target offenders who use guns in crimes and those who try to buy guns illegally.”  “Those who seek to illegally acquire firearms for use in criminal activity employ various methods of deception to get them,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. (“BJay”) Pak. “Project Guardian will address this by emphasizing close federal, state, and local law-enforcement collaboration with a focus on those who represent the greatest threat of violence to our communities. Additionally, the state law enforcement fusion center will receive a report on individuals denied purchases through NICS, and the reason for the denial, so that appropriate steps under state and local laws can be taken.”