CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to talk about gun violence with President Biden

San Jose Mercury News - 7/12/2021

Jul. 12—San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is scheduled to attend a White House meeting Monday that will highlight ways to reduce gun violence just weeks after a horrific mass shooting at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority railyard stunned the Bay Area.

President Joe Biden plans to meet with law enforcement, local elected officials and others around the country to discuss his strategy to reduce gun crimes in the wake of a national increase in violent crimes.

The White House said Biden plans to review the administration's efforts to increase funding for local law enforcement that emphasizes effective community policing. Funding comes from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Biden signed into law earlier this year.

The White House said it was concerned about the possibility of an increase in violence during the summer months on the heels of an 18-month uptick in crime, particularly those involving guns.

In an effort to tackle the root causes of violent crime, some states and local governments have used money from the American Rescue Plan to help fund youth employment programs. The White House said investments in creating job opportunities in at-risk communities, reducing recidivism and supporting evidence-based community violence intervention programs have shown to reduce gun violence.

The Bay Area experienced its deadliest mass shooting in history when a gunman opened fire early on the morning of May 26, killing nine of his colleagues before taking his own life at Guadalupe Yard, the headquarters of the light rail system.

The shooter, Samuel Cassidy, 57, had worked for VTA for about two decades.

Two weeks after the shootings, San Jose City Council members unanimously approved Liccardo's plan to enact controversial measures requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance and retailers to video record their firearms sales. Liccardo said San Jose is the first city requiring gun owners to carry insurance.

Liccardo told the Bay Area News Group at the time that a new approach to tackling gun violence was necessary because "what has been tried and implemented hasn't done enough."

The mayor had initially announced the plan after two San Jose children were killed in a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July 2019.

"We had nine families and many friends and loved ones who are still hurting from the latest tragedy," Liccardo told the Bay Area News Group on Sunday. "This president knows something about personal tragedy and how it shapes one's commitment to action."

Biden lost a daughter who died in a car crash in 1972 and a son who died from brain cancer in 2015.

"We recognize Congress is not likely to take much action in this area given the deep divisions," Liccardo said. "So more and more the focus is what cities can do. We want to find best practices throughout the country that we can collectively adapt to better tackle gun violence."

The White House meeting is part of the administration's ongoing efforts to change the conversation in a heated political climate.

The administration has faced Republican criticism over calls by progressives to defund America's police departments as the country grapples with shootings of Black people by officers.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and Drexel found that between 2015 and the beginning of 2020 police shootings of unarmed Black people in the United States were three times higher than that of white people.

Biden has lobbied Congress to pass legislation that could lead to reforming policing across the country. The administration has blamed GOP lawmakers for trying to block increased funding for police by refusing to support the COVID-19 relief package.

The White House said Biden wants to stem the flow of illegal guns with a budget request seeking more funding for federal and state law enforcement, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to improve that agency's ability to track and disrupt gun trafficking.

Associated Press contributed to this story.

___

(c)2021 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.