State leaders tout tougher gun laws, violence intervention programs
Gun violence incidents in New Jersey dropped in 2023, in some cases to historic lows, and state leaders this week were crediting the Murphy administration’s tougher gun laws and stronger prevention programs.
The year-end report from the New Jersey State Police said there were 924 shootings in New Jersey in 2023, the first time the total fell under 1,000 since the state began tracking in 2009. That’s a 13% drop in shootings from 2022. Gun-related homicides were also down 8%, the report said.
An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She's interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.
