Washington - Vice President Joe Biden has led a task force that has been advising President Obama culminating in today's proposals.
The president wants:
- A ban on the sale of assault weapons.
- Strict limits on the sale of high capacity magazines.
- More extensive background checks.
- Keeping data on the locations of guns.
- Stronger enforcement of existing gun laws.
Some of the new plans will come in the form of executive orders that won't need congressional approval.
However, much of it will require the support of Congress.
"He believes that the things that we can do as a nation together in a bipartisan way, when it comes to legislation, together outside of Washington, that yes, we can reduce gun violence but it's something we have to do together,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “It's something that cannot be done by a President alone."
The White House has received letters from children across the country in the days since the Sandy Hook School shootings, and some of the kids who wrote letters will be at the announcement today.