KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Biden announced he is targeting ghost guns and will go after enacting red flag laws in a series of executive actions on Thursday.
"This is an epidemic for gods sake and it has to stop," Biden said, referring to mass shootings and gun violence.
The announcement comes as community leaders look to lower violence in Kansas City, Missouri, following a record-setting year for homicides.
Biden also announced measures to support anti-gun violence programs in urban areas using tools that do not involve incarceration.
For the AdHoc Group Against Crime, these measures should focus on people first.
"I think it's less investment in law enforcement side and more investment in social service side," Damon Daniel, president of AdHoc, said.
Daniel said he's hopeful after hearing the Biden's plan and said social services should be the focus.
This includes health care, jobs, building up businesses, education, housing and stability in urban communities.
"We cannot arrest our way out of this, so it's not that type of investment," Daniel said. "I hope that real investment is talking about how can we provide better case management for those perhaps on court supervisions, how we are investing in cognitive behavioral intervention while people are incarcerate."
Daniel is also hopeful the president's American Jobs Plan, which includes building up the economy and infrastructure in under-served communities, will pair well with his gun violence plan.
Biden has not yet announced details about funding, how much, or when this plan will be put into action.
