Obama Meets With Newtown Police Chief, Others

President Obama along with Vice President Biden met with representatives from the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriffs Association at the White House. The White House said the meeting was “to discuss the common-sense policies the President put forward last month that would reduce gun violence in communities across America.”

Newtown Police Chief Police Chief Michael Kehoe attended the session, which also included top law enforcement from two other communities with recent mass shootings — Aurora, Colorado and Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

In his remarks, Obama said:

“As we’ve indicated before the only way that we are going to be able to do everything that can be done is with the cooperation of Congress and that means passing serious laws that restrict access to and availability of assault weapons and magazine clips that aren’t necessary for hunters and sportsmen – those responsible gun owners who are out there,” he said. “It means that we are serious about universal background checks – it means we take seriously issues of mental health and school safety.”

“We recognize this is an issue that elicits a lot of passion all across the country and Joe and my Cabinet members who have been involved in this – have been involved in listening sessions across the last several months, and no group is more important for us to listen to than our law enforcement leaders – they are where the rubber hits the road.”