No quick solution to fix problem of gun violence: US Vice President Biden

With another firearms metaphor, Biden said he was “shooting for Tuesday” to send his recommendations to President Barack Obama, who promised to use his power to try to prevent new outrages after a school massacre in Connecticut.

“We know that there is no silver bullet,” Biden said, insisting that the question of how to stop more deaths following a spate of mass shootings was a difficult one.

“I come to this meeting with no judgment.”

Biden sat down with executives of video game and software firms amid speculation over the role violent content of so-called first-person shooter games has on disturbed users who later turn to real-life violence.

The vice president questioned whether there had been a “coarsening of our culture” over the years, but admitted he did not know the answer to the question.

Biden has been meeting all the “stakeholders” with interests in the guns issue, including victims of violence, law enforcement organizations, hunting groups and members of the gun lobby.

On Thursday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) said that Biden cared more about stamping out gun rights than protecting school children after its representative attended a meeting with Biden.

“We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment,” the statement added. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enshrines the right to bear arms.

Asked about the NRA's attitude, Biden said: “I thought we had a very straightforward, productive meeting.”

The NRA has called for armed guards at all U.S. schools and opposes efforts by Democrats to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons and other reform efforts.

Biden hinted this week that the White House was looking at universal background checks for gun buyers and to limit the availability of high-capacity ammunition clips, either through new laws or executive orders by Obama.

Obama gave Biden until late January to come up with policy ideas after attending a moving vigil for the 20 children and six adults killed by a gunman spraying bullets from an assault rifle in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14.

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