WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Department of Justice will receive just more than $4 million of the $231 million awarded by the U.S. DOJ to fund efforts combatting gun violence.

Forty-nine states got a chunk of the funding, which is a part of the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022. That act was signed into law in June by President Joe Biden.

“These awards will help meet two monumental public safety challenges — the alarming proliferation of gun violence in our country and the clear need for front-end interventions to slow the cycle of violence and victimization in our most underserved communities,” said DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance Director Karhlton F. Moore in a press release.

The Wisconsin DOJ said it will use the funding to do several things.

One item will be to hire new staff to head the SCIP initiative in the state. Officials said in 2023, they will do this as well as appoint new members to the Crisis Intervention Advisory Board.

They’ll also do research on what initiatives already exist in the state for gun violence prevention and mental health assistance, paying particular attention to gaps.

Officials said building relationships with other gun violence prevention and mental health organizations will also be a priority in 2023.

Once research has been gathered, the CIAB will access the data to determine how to use the funding. From there, they’ll create a program plan and set funding priorities for the DOJ.

Officials said that since Wisconsin doesn’t have an Extreme Risk Protection Order law — which works to keep guns from those who pose a threat to themselves or others — funding will focus primarily on research, behavioral health deflection, court-based programs and related training or outreach programs.

The law most applicable to firearm seizure is the Wisconsin State Statute Chapter 51.20, which was updated in 2022.

Officials said they’ll selected specific sub-grantees at a later date and that they’re subject to DOJ approval.

The funding is only a small part of the total $1.4 billion that will be given to the Office of Justice Programs by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act law over the course of five years.

“Protecting communities from gun crime is an urgent public safety challenge and a critical part of the Justice Department’s work to ensure that everyone in this country can live free from the fear of violence,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta in the release.