Vice President Joe Biden, who led the administration’s early efforts on gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, said in an interview published Thursday that momentum still exists for recently defeated legislation that would have expanded background checks on purchases of firearms.
“We’re going right back at it,” Biden told Rolling Stone. “The biggest thing that’s changed is that the people who were for the background checks are saying it will be a determining issue. There’s pace on the ball now; this is a different country. I’m convinced we’ll be able to bring this back up, and I’m convinced we can win this.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said last weekend that the chief sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.VA), believes a few more senators now support the amendment. Reid speculated that he “may be able to get another Democrat or two.”
President Barack Obama also reaffirmed that he intends to keep lobbying Congress on the issue.
“This was just the first round,” he told reporters in Mexico City last week. “I believe we’ll eventually get that done. We’ll keep on trying.”
