WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr unveiled a new Justice Department initiative on Wednesday to tackle gun violence as Congress and the White House remain largely immobilized on the issue.

The initiative, Project Guardian, is focused primarily on strengthening partnerships among the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, federal prosecutors and state and local law enforcement to enforce and expand the use of existing gun laws. It will also create partnerships with community organizations aimed at preventing gun violence, and increase scrutiny of people convicted of violent felonies or domestic violence, potentially reducing their access to firearms.

At a news conference, Mr. Barr described Project Guardian as intended to help federal and local law enforcement “better target offenders who use guns in crimes and those who try to buy guns illegally.”

The result should “cut the pipeline of crime guns from those violent individuals who seek to terrorize our communities,” Regina Lombardo, the acting deputy director of the bureau, said in her public remarks.