Biden meeting with game industry

US Vice President Joe Biden will meet with representatives of the gaming industry this week to discuss ways to prevent tragedies like last month's Newtown school shooting, a White House spokesman told Reuters.

Days after the shooting, the vice president was tasked by President Barack Obama with creating a variety of proposals to prevent gun violence and "pull together real reforms right now." Biden is expected to suggest policy changes later this month, and is meeting with several groups this week as he puts those plans together.

In addition to the game industry, the vice president will be meeting with other entertainment industry representatives, the National Rifle Association, victims of gun violence, and other groups with interests in firearms. At least one of those groups, the NRA, has already made its stance publicly known.

In a press conference a week after the Newtown shooting, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre dismissed proposals for stricter gun laws, instead calling for an armed guard in every school. He also pointed to mental health and violent games as other areas legislators should look at, calling gaming "a callous, corrupt, and corrupting shadow industry that sells and sows violence against own people."

Guns and games aren't the only things under scrutiny in this process. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will hold meetings tackling the issue from a mental health angle, while Education Secretary Arne Duncan will discuss the issue with parent and teacher groups.

Whatever Biden's recommendations are, the president has directed Congress to vote on the resulting measures by the end of this year.