Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Feb. 8, 2011 (Larry Downing/Reuter …Vice President Joe Biden, set to unveil his post-Newtown recommendations on gun violence later this month, will host a meeting Thursday that will include a representative from the National Rifle Association, White House officials said Tuesday.
The White House said that Biden will first meet Wednesday with groups that represent victims of gun violence, as well as officials from gun-safety organizations. On Thursday, he will meet with “advocates for sportsmen and -women and gun ownership groups," per the White House.
The vice president will also meet this week with “representatives of the entertainment and video game industries" and hold conference calls with elected officials.
The NRA will send a representative to the Thursday meeting "to hear what they have to say," according to NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.
The organization has vowed to resist new gun control measures, pushing instead for armed guards at schools.
President Barack Obama is “skeptical that putting more guns in schools would solve this problem,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday.
But Obama “doesn’t want to prejudge any recommendations that any stakeholder might present,” Carney added.
The spokesman also noted that Obama has called on Congress to renew the lapsed ban on assault weapons, tighten restrictions on ownership of high-capacity magazines, and close loopholes in background check requirements.
“Those are things that Congress could move on very quickly,” Carney said.