Several East Coast cities are launching a new tactic against urban gun violence by creating a database to pool information on gun-related crimes and firearms trafficking.

The program announced Wednesday will combine data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with material collected by local agencies, including ballistics tests and information gathered in police interrogations.

The database, expected to be in operation later this year, will make it more difficult for illegal gun dealers to do business throughout the Interstate 95 corridor, said a group that included 11 mayors and various law enforcement officials from cities including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and Richmond, Va.

"Violent crime, particularly gun crime, is not just a local problem," Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said. "It's a national problem."

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