President Obama appointed the Vice President to lead a group to come up with 'concrete proposals' to curb gun violence. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
As he prepares a legislative package for President Obama's review, Vice
President Biden said Friday that multiple approaches are needed to address the
plague of gun violence.
"We know that there is no silver bullet ... no seat belt you can put on,"
Biden said before meeting with members of video game industry.
It's the latest in a string of meetings Biden has held this week, with guests
ranging from gun-control advocates to gun rights supporters, hunters to
retailers, mayors to governors, lawyers to doctors, and faith leaders to
entertainment industry executives.
Biden has said he plans to make a series of recommendations to President
Obama on Tuesday.
Obama assigned Biden the task after the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 20
students and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The president
said he plans to make a major push for gun legislation this year; he may also
issue executive orders.
The video game meeting came after the nation's biggest gun lobby, the
National Rifle Association, accused the Obama administration of focusing only on
gun control.
"We don't think that a ban on so-called assault weapons, which hasn't worked
in the past, is going to work this time," NRA President David Keene told
NBC'sTodayshow.
Renewal of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004 is an idea Obama has
endorsed, along with improvements to background checks of gun purchasers and
restrictions on the capacities of ammunition magazines.
Biden met with the NRA and other gun-rights groups Thursday; on Friday, he
declined to respond to the group's post-meeting criticism. "I thought we had a
very straightforward, productive meeting," he told reporters.
The president and vice president have said they respect the Second Amendment
right of gun ownership, and are looking for common-sense ways to keep
high-powered weapons away from people who shouldn't have them.
Obama and Biden have also said they want to address other factors behind gun
violence, including mental health and cultural issues.
The latter concern prompted the vice president's meeting with members of the
video game industry, some of whose products have been accused of desensitizing
young people to the nature of violence.
"You have not been singled out," Biden said. "I come to this meeting with no
judgment."