An increasing number of US congressmen have called for a national dialogue about measures to curb gun violence following the shooting last week at a an elementary school in Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children and six adults.
White House officials have said that President Barack Obama would make preventing gun-related violence a priority in his second term in office and stricter laws would be part of the effort.
Obama met US Vice President Joe Biden and a handful of cabinet members to begin discussions on ways the country should respond to the shootings in Newton, Connecticut.