Biden responds to questions from Lowcountry viewers on gun control measures

WASHINGTON, DC (WCSC) - Vice President Joe Biden responded to questions from Lowcountry viewers on gun control after President Barack Obama announced plans to curb gun violence.

One viewer, Karen, raised the concern about criminalizing normal families by not allowing them to pass down guns to their children.

"You can pass down guns in your family as long as you know what your doing with a gun," Biden said. "You're passing it down. There's a mechanism as to what you can do. What you can't do -- you are able to do now, that we want to stop -- you can't set up a trust you have the Biden family trust and the trust goes out and buys machine guns. You're not allowed to buy a machine gun. A trust or corporation can buy a machine gun, but you're not allowed to buy one individually."

Obama's plan to deal with gun violence involves four key steps: closing loopholes in background checks, making guns smarter and safer by encouraging the gun industry to develop ways to keep guns from firing for anyone but their owners'; setting aside money for mental health, and getting Congress to approve millions for the hiring of more ATF agents.

Several comments received from viewers complained the executive orders announced by President Barack Obama on Tuesday were an effort to diminish citizens' Second Amendment rights, a claim Biden vigorously denies.

"They're dead wrong," Biden said. "Think about what the president said. He wants to make sure people who shouldn't own a gun don't get one. He wants to make it quicker for people who are able to own a gun under the law to be able to own a gun. That's the whole background check system."

Biden says additional ATF agents are critical to help enforce the laws already on the books.

Live 5 News was one of five local news teams across the country invited to the White House. Charleston was one of the communities selected because of the impact the Holy City felt in June when nine parishioners of Mother Emanuel AME Church were gunned down.

Emanuel AME shooting survivor Jennifer Pinckney, widow of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine people killed in the shooting, was among those who stood behind Obama as he announced the executive actions. Other people whose families were affected by gun violence were also present.

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