Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey law enforcement will now have access to a federal database tracking the sales and movement of illegal guns used in crimes, Governor Jon Corzine said today.

Corzine announced an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that will give the State Police access to national firearms-purchasing data. Until today the information was only accessible by federal investigators and the local police department that provided it.

``This new, first-in-the-nation partnership will allow us to pursue, arrest and prosecute the purchasers and sellers of illegal guns that have plagued our streets and our communities for far too long,'' Corzine said in a statement.

The announcement follows the Aug. 4 shootings behind an elementary school in Newark, New Jersey's largest city, that left three college students dead and one seriously wounded. The violence drew national attention to Newark and its 38-year-old mayor, a Rhodes scholar who was elected last year on a platform to cut crime and spur economic development.

In response to the killings, Corzine said Aug. 10 his administration would propose legislation in September aimed at fighting street gangs and strengthening gun laws, which he described as some of the weakest in the nation.

Fighting Crime

The agreement announced today has been in the works for about six months and was finalized in the past week, Corzine and Attorney General Anne Milgram said.

Corzine will be in Newark tomorrow to announce more anti-gun initiatives with Mayor Cory Booker, the governor's spokeswoman Lilo Stainton said yesterday.

``Gun violence in New Jersey and across America is stealing young lives and killing innocent people,'' Corzine said in today's statement.

Booker said yesterday the city will install gunshot- detecting acoustic sensors and 50 new surveillance cameras on neighborhood streets in a new attempt to combat gun violence.

Milgram said she is ordering all police departments to forward gun-tracing information to the national tracking system to create a database that can be shared by all law enforcement in the state. Currently, only 30 percent of local departments across the nation provide such information to the so-called e-Trace system, state officials said.

The data will include the first purchasers of the firearms, the vendor and state where the purchases were made, the types of weapons, and individuals trafficking guns into or within New Jersey. In 2006, State Police registered 3,100 requests to trace firearms used in crimes of which 26 percent were originally purchased in the state, Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.

Hospital Visit

In the Aug. 4 Newark incident, Deshawn Harvey, 20, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, were shot in the head at close range, according to autopsy results. Investigators have arrested three people and are searching for two more suspects.

Natasha Aeriel, 19, the sister of one of those killed, is recovering at University Hospital in Newark from a gunshot wound near the ear and a stab wound to the face.

Corzine, speaking at today's firearms press conference at state police headquarters in Ewing, New Jersey, said he had visited Natasha Aeriel at the hospital and called her courageous. The visit was yesterday, according to Corzine spokesman Brendan Gilfillan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton, New Jersey, at tdopp@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 15, 2007 14:50 EDT