Vice President Biden hopes to present gun-violence proposals Tuesday. Surprise! NRA already says no

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office to discuss the shootings in Aurora, Colorado last July. Pictured, from left, are: Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The national task force established in the wake of the slaughter of kindergarteners in Connecticut by a heavily armed, mentally disturbed gunman last month is set to release its recommendations Tuesday, well within the end-of-January deadline set by President Obama in December.

The proposals are likely to cover a broad range of issues, including possible new restrictions on the kinds of firearms that can be purchased, background checks of buyers, mental health and social service interventions, and other measures. Some mandates, such as ensuring that every buyer of a gun undergoes a background check, probably have a better than even chance of passing the Senate and House. Others, for example, the reinstatement of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004, are in for tough sailing.

There is no expectation that banning Internet sales of ammunition, registering firearms or licensing gun owners will be included in the task force's recommendations.

The Center for American Progress has just released its recommendations. Included in the list is an assault weapons sales and manufacturing ban that goes further than the 1994 ban, but would not confiscate or buy back such weapons from Americans who already own them.

No surprise that the key obstacle to any new restrictions on gun sales is the National Rifle Association. It has its hooks deeply embedded in the Republican Party that holds the majority in the House of Representatives. Although that majority is fractious on some matters, it can be expected to be unified on gun restrictions and at least a few Democrats can be expected to join it. The NRA has made itself clear:

David Keene, president of the National Rifle Association, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that new restrictions on guns are unconstitutional and ineffective.

"They interfere with people's rights (to gun ownership) without doing anything to solve the problem," Keene said.

The organization has worked diligently since 2008 to persuade Americans that Obama wants to take away their guns despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Biden, who the president chose to preside over the task force, has, like many other Americans, called for a comprehensive approach in dealing with gun violence. To that end he and other Cabinet members have met with a broad range of representatives from gun ownership and gun-control organizations (including the NRA), hunters, community leaders, law enforcement officials, educators, health professionals and representatives of the video game industry.

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