Biden Says Gun-Safety Consensus Is Emerging

The Wall Street Journal
by Jared A. Favole
January 10, 2013

AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Joe Biden met with representatives from retailers and gun-rights groups Thursday.

WASHINGTON—

Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday said he plans to give President Barack Obama ideas to reduce gun violence by Tuesday and that a consensus is emerging to ban high-capacity weapons and require universal background checks.

“You all know this is a complicated issue,” Mr. Biden said at the beginning of a meeting with gun-sports groups such as Ducks Unlimited. He said there was an “emerging consensus” of about five steps the government could take to help prevent gun violence though the administration hadn’t made any final decisions.

Aside from banning high-capacity weapons and requiring universal background checks, the steps would also involve strengthening the background-check system, increasing research on gun-related injuries and deaths, and considering what responsibilities gun owners have to keep their firearms out of the wrong hands.

Mr. Biden, who said he owns shotguns, added that there is no way to solve every instance of gun violence but the government must work to “diminish the probability” of shootings.

His comments came during his first gun-related meeting he and other administration officials were holding Thursday. Mr. Biden met later in the afternoon with gun-rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, which has said it opposes new gun laws and has instead called for placing armed guards in schools.

Following the meeting, the NRA released a statement in which it said it was “disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.”

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“We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen. Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works—and what does not,” the group said.

The vice president also will be meeting with the entertainment industry because, he said, “part of this is cultural as well.” Attorney General Eric Holder will meet with representatives from retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.31% and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc.

The meetings come one day after Mr. Biden said Mr. Obama was considering taking unilateral, executive action on gun control, suggesting that changes to laws are likely even without congressional moves.

The president is going to act,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday while meeting with gun-safety advocacy groups and survivors of shootings. Mr. Biden is leading an effort to draw up proposals for responding to the elementary-school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Wal-Mart, the country’s largest seller of guns, initially said it couldn’t meet at the White House but on Wednesday said it was sending a representative. A White House official said the retailer was invited to meet with Mr. Holder and other gun retailers, not Mr. Biden.

Some states are trying to advance their own measures. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed broad changes to the state’s gun laws Wednesday, putting New York on track to be the first to revamp its regulations following the Newtown shootings.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy is pushing for a law banning large-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones authorities say accused gunman Adam Lanza used in the Newtown shooting.