Politics

NRA says meeting with Biden was ‘disappointing’

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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The National Rifle Association said it emerged “disappointed” from a Thursday meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and other gun owners’ groups.

The meeting was a part of Biden’s work on a task force on gun policy, established in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. that left 20 children dead.

The NRA statement on the meeting said that the group was “prepared to have a meaningful conversation about school safety, mental health issues, the marketing of violence to our kids and the collapse of federal prosecutions of violent criminals.”

“We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment,” the statement said. (RELATED: Professors support Sandy Hook conspiracy theories)

“While claiming that no policy proposals would be ‘prejudged,’ this Task Force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners – honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans,” the statement said. “It is unfortunate that this Administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen. Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works – and what does not.”

The meeting lasted one hour and 35 minutes, according to the White House. Other attendees were representatives from the Defense Small Arms Advisory Council (DSAAC), Firearms Import/Export Roundtable, Independent Firearm Owners Association (IFoA), National Shooting Sports Foundation, and National Association of Arms Shows.”

Biden said on Thursday that he would present recommendations to President Barack Obama by next Tuesday. Those recommendations, he suggested, would likely include universal background checks — including on sales at gun shows and private sales. (RELATED: Biden says background checks should not just be limited to “closing the gun show loophole”)

The vice president also suggested the recommendations would involve a provision to address high-capacity magazines, and providing the government the authority to track certain data about violent crimes, such as what type of weapons are used in the crimes and how those weapons are purchased.

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