WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is creating the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, according to two people familiar with the plans. The office will coordinate efforts across the federal government and will offer help and guidance to states struggling with increasing gun violence, while taking the lead on implementation of the bipartisan gun legislation signed into law last year. Biden tentatively plans to announce the new effort with an event Friday at the White House, said the people, who had direct knowledge of the plans and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The office fulfils a key demand of gun safety activists who banded together as a coalition to endorse Biden for president in 2024 and is an effort by the White House to keep the issue front-and-centre as the president pushes for a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and urges Congress to act.