President Obama will likely take executive action in an effort to tamp down the recent rash of gun violence, Vice President Biden said Wednesday.
“The president is going to act,” said Biden, who is conducting meetings all week on gun control. “There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all.”
He said last month's Newtown, Conn., tragedy — which took the lives of 20 elementary school children — “touched the heart of the American people so profoundly” and “requires immediate, urgent action.”
Biden sat beside Attorney General Eric Holder as he met with gun-control leaders, including the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, along with victims of gun violence, including survivors of the Virginia Tech University shooting and the stepfather of a victim in last summer's Aurora, Colo., shooting.
“I want to make clear that we're not going to get caught up in the notion that, unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing,” Biden said. “It's critically important we act.”
He added that there is “pretty wide consensus on three or four or five things in the gun safety area that could and should be done.”
Biden is expected to report his findings on gun violence to Obama by month's end.
Before then, he'll meet with groups such as Walmart to discuss the issue. Next week, he will address the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. On Thursday, Biden will hold a meeting with National Rifle Association officials.
But Biden would not get into the details of what he'll discuss with the group. “They'll be able to tell you that,” he said.
For more on Biden's comments, click here.
