The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is set to tour a new Chicago center that authorities hope will help stem gun-related violence in the nation's third latest city.
B. Todd Jones will join U.S. Senator Dick Durbin Friday to tour the downtown facility, called the Gun Crime Intelligence Center.
The ATF director's visit comes in the wake several initiatives designed to help Chicago battle persistent street-level violence.
The Department of Justice announced last week that it's sending seven more ATF agents to Chicago. They're joining 45 agents already based in the city.
Durbin and other politicians have urged the federal officials to come up with ways to help local police stop illegal guns flowing into Chicago from other cities and states.
