Vice President Biden will meet this week with the National Rifle Association and a variety of other groups as his task force on guns intensifies its efforts.
Biden will meet Wednesday with gun-safety organizations and shooting victims groups and on Thursday will meet with gun ownership organizations and sportsmen who use guns recreationally, according to the White House.
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said the organization accepted an invitation received from the White House late Friday."We are sending a rep to hear what they have to say," Arulanandam said.
Biden will also meet with members of the video game and entertainment industry, which have come under scrutiny in the debate over gun violence.
Biden is leading a task force charged with making recommendations to President Obama to prevent shooting massacres, and it increasingly looks like the task force is taking a broad look at how to limit gun violence.
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The task force was assembled in response to the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which resulted in 27 dead, including 20 children. Obama has described the day as the worst of his presidency, and has said he will look to take quick action on the Biden group's recommendations.
The Washington Post recently reported that the White House is weighing a broad approach on gun control that would go beyond bans on assault weapons and high-capacity clips that have garnered attention in the past. The Post said the Biden group was considering universal background checks for gun buyers and a national database to track the movement and sale of weapons.
Members of Congress have suggested a willingness to look at the issue of gun violence, but any significant changes to gun laws would be expected to encounter resistance from Republicans and many Democrats.
The NRA opposes new restrictions on gun ownership, and has proposed that one way to deal with the issue of gun violence is to put armed guards in schools.
White House press secretary Jay Carney at his Tuesday press briefing said the vice president was overseeing a process engaged with a variety of stakeholders to look at gun violence.
"They include gun owners and groups that represent gun owners," he said.
Asked specifically what the vice president hoped to hear from the NRA, Carney stressed that the White House "doesn't want to prejudge any recommendations that any stakeholders would present."
Carney said that the meeting was "designed to get input" from stakeholders — a sign that the administration is hoping the gun group will present its own recommendations on preventing gun violence.
In addition to his meetings, Biden will hold conference calls with elected officials from across the country as part of his effort, the White House said.
Separately, Cabinet officials will hold meetings with organizations to discuss gun-violence prevention.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan will meet with education groups, parents and teachers. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with mental health advocates. Other senior White House staff members will meet with medical groups, community organizations and advocates for children and families to discuss gun violence, the White House said.
"Soon after" the meetings, according to the White House, Biden will pass his task force's recommendations to Obama, who will then release a set of proposals for reducing gun violence and urge movement to enact those proposals.
—This story was posted at 11:58 a.m. and last updated at 1:20 p.m.
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