Biden to meet with NRA
Vice President Joe Biden will meet Thursday with the National Rifle Association, "one of many" gun rights groups he will meet with as part of the White House's gun task force to reduce gun violence.
"We look forward to hearing from a variety of organizations," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.
"We are sending a representative to hear what they have to say," Andrew Arulanandam, NRA spokesperson, told CBS News.
The NRA and the Obama administration have been at odds on its response to the latest mass shooting, which occurred in Newtown, Conn., last month. The powerful gun lobby proposed placing armed guards in schools, a proposal the president said he is "skeptical" about.
In addition to his meeting with the NRA, the vice president is meeting with gun safety advocates, victims' groups and entertainment and video game industry officials. Cabinet secretaries are also holding meetings with parents, educators and mental health experts.
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.
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.
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."
Andy Triay contributed to this report.
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Actually, if you read through Joe Biden's bio, he's a fairly good choice for this meeting. He will certainly speak frankly. But the question remains...as to Biden's mission. Did the President send a negotiator, an arbitrator, or the second in command?
The NRA needs to get over its uneducated and pathetic self...
The term "Well Regulated" in the Second Amendment meant "Well Manned and Equipped " in 1791 as was determined in the 1939 United States v. Miller case after referencing the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The concept of Government Regulation, as we understand it today, did not exist at the time.
United States v. Miller also determined that the term "Arms" refers to "Ordinary Military Weapons" (not crew operated). American Citizens have the right to Keep and Bear, which means Own and Carry, any weapons that a soldier carries into battle. That includes past, present and future weapons. A Militia consisted of armed volunteers willing to fight with their personal arms and not under government control.
The 2008 Heller v. Washington DC decision reaffirmed that the Right to Bear Arms was an Individual right. The 2010 McDonald v. Chicago decision reaffirmed it yet again and made it clear that it applies to every state, every city and every town in the United States.
To limit the Second Amendment to muskets would be the equivalent of limiting the First Amendment to writings in quill pens.
Liberty is worth the risk of death!
Whatever becomes law, it will never stop all the wackjobs hell-bent on mass killing, but it may likely prevent some - and maybe spare your wife, son, daughter, a co-worker, friend or relative who otherwise could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. If the saying goes "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns," it makes sense to find out who the "outlaws" are BEFORE they acquire firearms. "Outlaw" = someone under indictment or already a convicted felon, mentally defective individuals, drug addicts, illegal aliens, someone who has renounced his citizenship to the United States (thus making them an illegal alien), those subject to an order of protection due to stalking or harrassment or making threats, those guilty of domestic violence, or someone who is a fugitive from justice. Probably being on a terrorist list should get you barred as well.
No system will ever be perfect, but penalities can be increased for those who KNOWINGLY sell, give, or otherwise transfer a firearm to someone on the list - make it 20 years in prison, like for the woman who bought guns for the guy who killed two firemen and wounded two others (in her case, accessory to murder should apply also), a major fine, and forfeiture of all firearms.