Biden to talk gun control in Google Plus Hangout

Vice President Biden will participate in a live “Hangout” through Google Plus on Thursday, focusing on the theme of reducing gun violence.

Google and Biden’s office announced the event on Wednesday. Biden will answer questions during the 30-minute video chat, which will be live-streamed on the White House’s Google Plus and YouTube pages at 1:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Members of the administration, including President Obama, have held Hangouts on the service in the past. A small number of citizen participants is carefully selected to ask approved questions. The White House plans to continue holding this type of video chat during Obama's second term, and is calling the series “Fireside Hangouts." The name was inspired by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s radio addresses.

The vice president will be joined in Thursday’s Hangout by a couple of people who are experts on new media, rather than on gun control: Philip DeFranco and Guy Kawasaki. PBS NewsHour Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan will moderate the discussion.

Biden led a series of meetings earlier this month that resulted in a list of actions for the White House and Congress to take on gun violence. The administration is looking to retain public momentum to take quick action in the aftermath of several mass shootings last year.

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