Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, center, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, following a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, victims’ groups and gun safety organizations in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex. From left are, William Kellibrew, Witness to Violence & Founder William Kellibrew Foundation; Hildy Saizow of Arizona for Gun Safety; Colin Goddard, a survivor of Virginia Tech shooting; Annette Nance-Holt, mother of victim to gang violence; and Lonnie Phillips, stepfather of a Aurora, Colo., shooting victim. Biden is holding a series of meetings this week as part of the effort he is leading to develop policy proposals in response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden, who is leading an administration-wide review of gun safety laws, also will meet Thursday with sportsmen's and wildlife interest groups, as well as with representatives from the entertainment industry. The meetings are part of a week of discussions the vice president is holding as he prepares to present President Barack Obama with recommendations for curbing gun violence.
The effort was spurred by last month's horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six educators were killed when a gunman stormed an elementary school. Obama has set a late January deadline for Biden's proposals.
The NRA, the nation's largest gun-rights group, has blocked gun-control efforts in the past and is opposing any new ones. In the wake of the Newtown shooting, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre rejected efforts to tighten gun laws and instead recommended putting armed guards in all schools as a way to stop another school shooting.
White House officials recognize it is unlikely the NRA will ever fully support measures Obama is pushing, including an assault weapons ban and limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines. But the administration may need to soften the NRA's opposition if it hopes to rally support from pro-gun lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Ahead of the NRA meeting, Biden said he wanted to hear from "all parties, on whatever side of this debate you fall."
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest firearms seller, will also take part in meetings with the vice president Thursday.
In a nod to political realities that could imperil sweeping gun-control legislation, Biden said the administration is weighing executive action in addition to recommending legislation by Congress.
Recommendations to the Biden group include making gun-trafficking a felony, getting the Justice Department to prosecute people caught lying on gun background-check forms and ordering federal agencies to send data to the National Gun Background Check Database.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that some 40 percent of gun sales are made without background checks, such as at gun shows and over the Internet.
Representatives from the Brady Campaign joined other victims' groups and gun safety organizations for meetings with Biden on Wednesday. The vice president said the steps the administration is considering could "take thousands of people out of harm's way" and improve the safety of millions more.
"I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing," Biden said. "It's critically important we act."
The Newtown shootings pushed gun control to the top of Obama's domestic agenda for the first time during his presidency. He was largely silent on the hot-button political issue after the 2011 shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six people and wounded 12 others, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and the Colorado movie theater killing of a dozen people and wounding of many more last July.
Biden, referring to the Newtown shootings, said at the White House, "Every once in a while, there's something that awakens the conscience of the country, and that tragic event did it in a way like nothing I've seen in my career."
The president hopes to announce his administration's next steps to tackle gun violence shortly after he is sworn in for a second term and has pledged to push for new measures in his State of the Union address.
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Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Darlene Superville and Julie Pace contributed to this report.
By the way, with the increase in the cost of amunition I will no longer offer a warning shot!
"...liberty's teeth..." George Washington died in Dec. 1799 [214 years ago].
My fellow Earthicans, those who write nothings changed and review unwise hit peak craziness.
FALSELY ATTRIBUTED TO THE
FOUNDING FATHERS?
I'll take Before and After for 500 Alex.
“Then again, liberal gun-bigots have heard all the rebuttals, all the logic, all the truth before – many times. It hasn’t penetrated their skulls. They’re not interested in the debate or discussion. They are dead set on disarming you. Frankly, it’s getting dang near time to put them in their place... yes, that place.” (Bubba)
map and publish the names and addresses of all criminals in the U.S. who have guns. Oh, that’s right, criminals don’t register guns.
Anyone that didn’t see this coming has their head in the sand. Progressives aren’t interested in safety for anyone. They are only interested in disarming ALL Americans. Their agenda for guns isn’t new. It has been written for years and years, just like Obamacare has been written for years and years, this is just an opportune time to push for disarming the American citizens. Typical socialist policy that has been proven not to work for years and years. People just don’t learn or care about history.