The Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting was the first test of Biden’s new gun violence prevention office

By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deputy director of the new gun violence prevention office at the White House has been in Lewiston, Maine, helping the community recover from a mass shooting. Greg Jackson says his job is to make it easier for the states and cities to get help from the federal government. He helped arrange for funeral costs, trauma specialists in the schools, and loans for businesses affected by the shooting. Jackson says that until now, the only unified response coming from the federal government was via law enforcement. That was helpful, but it didn’t address, for example, businesses losing money because they had to close as police investigated nearby or schools that reopened without enough trauma therapists for students.