President Joe Biden touted his efforts to curb gun violence as necessary for reducing crime, saying a landmark law he signed last year was already saving lives.

“For those who say they’re concerned about crime, you can’t deal with crime without dealing with gun violence. It’s a simple proposition,” Biden said at the National Safer Communities Summit, a gathering of the nation’s leading gun-reform organizations, in West Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday.

Biden’s event was intended to mark the one-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant federal gun-safety law in decades. The president said the law was …