White House gun task force forging ahead

Shortly after the House vote, President Obama complained to reporters about how hard it was to reach a deal and insisted it won't happen again when the debt ceiling battle comes around. CBS News' Major Garrett reports.

Updated 1:12 p.m. ET

With a self-imposed end of January deadline to come up with a proposal regarding gun safety, Vice President Biden is accelerating efforts of the White House task force on gun violence with a series of meetings this week.

The president created the task force shortly after the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., last month. He appointed Biden as the head of the task force and asked for recommendations by the end of January.

Upon returning from his long weekend in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Biden has numerous task force-related meetings scheduled this week. He will meet with officials of the video game industry and mental health experts, which the president said are important factors to examining gun violence. Additionally, Biden will meet with illegal gun opponents and pro-gun groups, including the National Rifle Association, in an effort to seek input and build consent for action, CBSNews.com has confirmed.

"We look forward to hearing from a variety of organizations," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.

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Giffords, Biden launch gun control efforts

President Obama has indicated that he wants Congress to reestablish the ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004, and limit the size of magazines and expand background checks, including closing the gun show loophole, which allows unlicensed sellers to sidestep checks.The task force is also expected to look at broader efforts that might include a national database and proposals that can be implemented without congressional approval, the Washington Post reported.

Biden has also been conferring with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is a vocal advocate for gun regulation. His group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, launched a TV ad Tuesday to pressure lawmakers to "stand up to the gun lobby."

Roxanne Green, whose daughter was killed in the 2011 Tucson, Ariz., shooting that injured former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is highlighted in the ad. "I have one question for political leaders, when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby? Whose child has to die next?" Green says.

The timing of the ad is intentional, not only to keep the pressure on lawmakers to act in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, but because it is also debuting on the second anniversary of the Tucson shooting.

Also Tuesday, Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, launched a new organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions, in favor of gun restrictions that intends to "[match] gun lobbyists in their reach and resources," the couple wrote in a USA Today op-ed.

When gun safety advocates refer to the gun lobby, there are numerous organizations that promote less gun regulation, but the most powerful is the National Rifle Association, which has spent nearly $10 million since President Obama's inauguration on lobbying activity, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That number doesn't include the more than $30 million the NRA's political action committee and the organization's affiliated political nonprofits spent to influence the 2012 presidential and congressional elections. 

The NRA has proposed placing armed guards in schools to clamp down on shootings. It's a proposal the president has rejected.

Despite efforts to maintain momentum on the gun issue, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said over the weekend that Congress must prioritize its early March deadlines around spending cuts and the debt ceiling. "Clearly we will not be addressing that issue early, because spending and debt are going to dominate the first three months," McConnell said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

[pleaseletitbeso]

I am curious how any sane individual could even think about any form of firearm restriction or ban knowing full well that the Violent Crime and Murder rates have continued to Plummet in these United States for the last 20 years, consistently.

Violent Crime and Murder have Decreased 50% in the last 20 years, how has this trend not made it into the media, why are the politicians not willing to praise the progress.

As the population steadily increases the Violent Crime and Murder rates Drop, this trend is because we have access to the firearms we do, not in spite of them.

Talk about an ignorant moronic thought process, disarm the public while Violent Crime and Murder Drops.

The latest push truly is less about the safety of the populace and driven solely by agenda.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-1

[pleaseletitbeso]

Violent crime and murder rates have dropped by 50% in the last 20 years, these are hard facts that the current administration chooses to ignore.

Those that would ban firearms rely on emotionally driven deceptive rhetoric, it's less about the well being of the populace and more about a politically motivated agenda.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-1

[Blah-Blah-Blah2]

I'm surprised to find that the gun task force is actually meeting and conferring with all relevant groups which have an interest in or an association with gun violence in the US. However, we all should know by now that GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE. In China, there are many recent instances of elementary schools being entered by a deranged man with a KNIFE who slashes dozens of children. It's not about the weapon, it's about the person. Disarming an entire nation and disregarding our Constitution is not the answer to the problem of the decline of society. We already are living under the greatest amount of surveillance we ever had. We have more government oversight in our lives than any free (or formerly free as the case may be) nation. The problem is much deeper than owning a firearm. But the President will move his agenda forward exploiting this instance towards that goal. I don't want to see a firestorm of outrage tear up this nation over this issue, but if this administration forces the issue, people will come out strongly over this right. The worse society gets, the more society needs to be armed. That's the reality. We can't count on cops and criminals don't comply with restrictive laws. The law abiding citizen will keep his guns. Period.

[TimeToEvolve]

Simple: background checks, waiting periods, mandatory safety classes, permits and registration and notification to immediate family. No exceptions. And big fines.

[RLEmery]

You mean the background checks where by law, they dont apply to felons & crazies (Haynes vs US 390, 85, 1968 & the 5th amendment)?

You mean the background checks where the BATF has refused to prosecute more than 1% of the 1.83 mil felons & crazies relected since 1994?

You mean the background check where the BATF has let 100% of those using a fake ID to pass the check?

You mean the BATF who does nothing about the 95% of felons who dont even attempt to buy from a licensed source to begin with?

You mean the BATF refuses to allow civilians access to use the NICS for private sales?

You mean registration that by law doesnt apply to felons & crazies, you know, that no self incrimination thingy does get in the way!

Speaking of crazies, since by law in 2007, the govt. is supposed to fun mental health reporting to the NICS which only has 1.7 mil reocrds of the 23.15 severely mentally ill experts agree exist in the US adult population? Not to mention those same experts agree that 50% of the current 2.7 mil prisoners are severly mentally ill.

Hey dont forget the 1 mil open felony warrants in the US today. You do realize there is no data to prove the % of severely mentally ill people in these felony warrants is different than that in the current prison population eh?

Oh you mean registration like the Canadians did in 1997 $2 bil in tax payer cost (they have 14 times less firearms than we do so a program to do so would probably cost 10 times more, its how government works) a 52% complaince (you really think it would be better here in US ROTFLMFAO) 47 firearms traced as stolen, oh wow, and no violent crimes solved, such a consistent trend. The long gun portion of the registration was repealed in summer 2012.

Sound slike you need to fix these problems first before you go all Hitler on anyone son!

[1pheasant1]

Smokey_75 replies:

Name one gun regulation you can think of that would have prevented any of the recent school shootings going back to Calumbine.
________________________________________________________
If there were a law that made it illegal to bring arms into the home of a mentally ill person, assuming Nancy Lanza was a "law abiding citizen," then Adam Lanza would not have gained access to them for his slaughter of innocent children.
Instead, Nancy the Prepper trained him how to use them.

[TimeToEvolve]

Exactly why we need enforceable regulations that will examine each and every person who wants a gun and make sure they are safety trained.

[1pheasant1]

We will never be certain, but I believe it would have greatly diminished the likelihood. I think mother and son lacked respect for human life.

[Chucker71]

I have lived through tragedy, I almost lost my son (3 at the time) to viral meningitis (caused by West Nile). I've lost people I respect and care for to combat. My wife and I watched the Twin Towers fall helplessly from Japan. But I am still amazed how we as a nation hamstring ourselves with all the rhetoric. Can't people see the tragic events of Sandy Hook are more about what's happening to us as a Nation and Culture than anything else. No amount of gun laws will stop such horrible acts from occurring and the longer we take to act on the "hard or hard to pin down" issues the more at risk our children become.

Now I am all for closing loopholes in regulations however the only reason politicians seem to want to attack guns is because they can't find anything else tangible. If they don't discover and address the real reason for these attacks then I will hold each and everyone of them personally responsible for any future loss of life.

Ignorance and or down right refusal to see the facts will keep all our children at risk.

[quantum_analysis]

SLOW_NEWS replies: "Smokey is great at ASKING questions, but completely incapable of answering the tough ones."

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Actually, the smoker is no different than most of the conservatrolls here, since they ALL answer each and every question with a question, and never can answer even one of them!

[quantum_analysis]

Hey dannyboy -- you must be proud of those representatives coming together today to elect the first gay speaker of the CO House!

Colorado sure is a progressive state these days, despite dannyboy supposedly living there and breathing their clean air!

[quantum_analysis]

Nice progressive state of Colorado these days despite your whining, with two Dem senators, a very popular Dem Governor, and now a Dem majority in both state houses, with the first gay speaker of the House!

your downfall is duly noted, so why not move to mexico tomorrow!

[quantum_analysis]

dannyboy says: "Officials in a small Utah town want to make sure every head of household has a firearm and knows how to use it"

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yeah...yeah...yeah...go lookup that tiny little town in REDstate Utah, and just see where it is, in the middle of nowhere!!!!

I imagine the only crime they have there, is mormon cultists trying to keep up with their past polygamist lives, and molesting little girls!

[quantum_analysis]

I've been all over the back roads of Utah -- beautiful scenery but very weird people -- and never even heard of that small town or ever been on the road to it! Guess I've been warned now, never to go in that direction!

[quantum_analysis]

INCRDBLHULK says: "Weird suggestion: Stop making the assault weapon DESIGN. It's partially the shape and feel of these military-style style weapons that are appealing to these nut cases."

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Good idea hulk -- maybe along the lines of the simple SKS or M1.

[quantum_analysis]

Probably wouldn't sell to the nut cases, though!