NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- In an effort to stop gun violence in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans for new gun courts and a new NYPD Gun Crime Unit.

Virtually every major law enforcement official in the city – district attorneys, U.S. attorneys, and police Commissioner Bill Bratton – stood behind Mayor de Blasio as he announced the plan to go after those who use guns to commit crimes and terrorize the city, CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported.

"It's our obligation to keep communities safe," de Blasio said.

Under the new gun court program, those charged with firearm possession will be sent to one of two dedicated gun courtrooms in Brooklyn Supreme Court. A pair of judges will oversee arraignments, indictments and trials there, and trials will be expedited.

There will also be a new 200-member Gun Violence Suppression Division of the NYPD that will handle all investigations related to illegal firearms.

Further, there will be expanded investigations of interstate gun trafficking. The city is also funding an additional $2 million a year for the Chief Medical Examiner's office, to help speed up DNA testing from guns, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke about it last week on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.

"There are several thousand people in this city who think nothing of taking out a gun and shooting another human being," he said. "I'm sorry, they need to be treated with every ounce of the justice system that we can apply to them to basically get them off the streets."

The mayor said reducing shootings makes the city safer, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.

"The numbers are powerful," he said. "There's been some debate about numbers versus the reality of human lives -- both matter. We have to measure by the numbers, the statistics tell us a lot. They represent human beings, they represent families."

The push comes after police officials complained last year that some gun-carrying suspects were not jailed after arrest. Many received low bail or were released on their own recognizance only to be arrested again later.

De Blasio said that existing police and court budgets will cover the majority of the cost of the program.

But Kramer had some questions for the mayor. She asked why the program is needed if when he has said New York City is the safest in the nation.

"We are the safest big city in the country, and we have to go farther -- that's the point, Marcia. We have to go farther," de Blasio said. "No one will rest on their laurels. We've driven down shootings. We've got to drive them down more."

Kramer also asked de Blasio whether he thought the perception that the streets are unsafe is unfair.

"It's never unfair," the mayor said. "If someone feels unsafe, we have to respect that and do something about that."  

Ironically, the program is called "Fast Track," the same name as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway repair program. Bratton emphasized that the gun program will go after a small number of gang members and others who carry guns.

He also said gun crimes were down despite the reduction of stop, question and frisk.

"As street stops plummeted -- and as what we called decision policing took their place -- shootings continued to fall. The drastic decreases in stops did not usher in any increases -- just the opposite," Bratton said. "The past three years, 1,138 shootings a year -- that's down nearly 25 cent from the previous 10-year average."

Officials say they hope to reduce the time it takes for gun defendants to go to trial from 10 months to just over six.

The first gun court will open in Brooklyn later this month.

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