President Obama will pitch his gun control proposals to the public and the law enforcement community Monday, as he calls for a ban on assault weapons and seeks to install universal background checks for gun buyers.
Obama will attempt to rally support for his plan in Minnesota, a Democratic-leaning state where officials have been studying ways to reduce gun-related attacks and accidents for several years. His visit to the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center will mark the first time Obama has campaigned on his controversial proposals outside of Washington.
Two of the country’s most influential voices in the gun control debate weighed in Sunday on the issue, but appeared no closer in reaching a compromise -- even on the issue of universal background checks.
Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s chief executive, told “Fox News Sunday” his group has tried unsuccessfully for such a check for two decades.
“I’ve been in this fight for 20 years. We proposed it. I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said LaPierre, who argued the mental health lobby and federal laws have prevented the names of people with potentially dangerous mental health problems from being put into a federal database.
He also said that "criminals won't comply."
LaPierre was skeptical about whether the Obama administration would take the gun-control legislation, if passed, a step farther.
"I think what they'll do is they'll turn this universal (background) check on the law-abiding into a universal registry on law-abiding people," he said. "ObamaCare wasn't a tax until they needed it to be a tax. I don't think you can trust these people."
Retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, whose wife former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by an emotionally disturbed gunman, argued for the background check. He told Fox that Giffords, a Democrat, and others might have been spared in the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson had the state entered the shooter’s name into a database.
The argument came nearly seven weeks after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults inside a Connecticut elementary school and five days after the first Senate hearing on the issue, following the Dec. 14 mass shooting.
Kelly also said he supports tightened background checks at gun shows and proposals by President Obama and fellow Democrats in the Senate to ban high-capacity magazines.
However, he would not fully commit to backing an automatic-weapons ban, which at this point does not appear to have enough widespread support to become law.
Kelly said semi-automatic weapons are “just too dangerous to be on the streets” for criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill.
“Gabby and I know this is going to be a hard problem to solve,” said Kelly, who also pointed out he served in the Middle East with such weapons.
"I don't think you'll find a stronger supporter of the Second Amendment than me," he said. "I fought for it."
The reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, is expected to be the steepest climb for Obama. Universal background checks for gun purchasers may have an easier time passing Congress, though the NRA also opposes that measure.
The White House picked Minneapolis as the backdrop for Obama's remarks in part because of recent steps the city has taken to tackle gun violence, including a push for stricter background checks.
After a spike in violent crimes, the city launched a program in 2008 aimed at providing more resources for at-risk youth and helping rehabilitate young people who have already perpetrated crimes. In January, Minneapolis also hosted a regional summit on gun violence for elected officials from around the Midwest.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau and Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek are also among the officials Obama has consulted as he pursues his anti-gun violence measures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
