Vice President Joe Biden said in a Thursday speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors that he and President Obama will go around the country to advocate for the gun control measures the administration has proposed.
"We’re going to take this fight to the halls of Congress," Biden said. "We’re going to take it beyond that. We’re going to take it to the American people. We’re going to go around the country making our case and we’re going to let the voices, the voices of the American people be heard."
Biden made it clear that requiring universal background checks for all new gun purchases is the most important element of the White House gun control platform – an opinion shared by the leading gun control advocacy organizations. [...]
While the groups are also pushing for an assault weapons ban, it is acknowledged to be the least important and most difficult element of Obama’s proposals to pass Congress. Biden himself implied that an assault weapons ban pales in importance to even a prohibition on high-capacity ammunition magazines.
There may be more to come from what was once the president's reelection campaign structure.
Former Obama reelection campaign manager Jim Messina sent an email Thursday morning to the campaign's email list advocating for the measures.
Messina is among the former campaign officials reported to be working on the "restructuring" of OFA into potentially a 501(c)4 organization or a Super PAC. Former deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, who is also in that group, promised the campaign network would "activate very soon" on the guns issue in an interview Wednesday night.
OFA is expected to announce its future on Sunday, at the Obama Legacy Conference, according to Politico Influence.