The United States is heading toward a confrontation over gun control, following the December shooting rampage that left 20 children and six adults dead in a schoolhouse slaughter.

Vice President Joe Biden is set to unveil his proposals Tuesday to control such all-too-frequent assaults in America, likely including a renewed effort to outlaw the sale of assault-style weapons.  

But a key gun-rights leader, David Keene of the National Rifle Association, told CNN on Sunday that does not think there will be enough votes in Congress to re-instate such a ban, which last expired in the United States in 2004.

US Gun Violence Compared to the Rest of the World

​​U.S. President Barack Obama says he wants new gun control proposals to present to Congress as his second term in office begins Sunday, just several weeks after a gunman slaughtered children and staff members of a Connecticut elementary school on December 14.

The president said it is important to act quickly on new gun control measures before the nation's memory of the assault fades. Biden is also likely to propose more stringent background checks on gun buyers and limits on the size of ammunition clips.

Gun control measures are controversial in the United States, where gun ownership is enshrined in the Constitution.

One senator who supports gun rights, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, says he would consider some new restrictions, but that new laws are not the only answer.

 

 

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