US News

Biden aims for gun-control plan next week

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s gun-control plan is almost ready to aim and fire.

Vice President Joe Biden yesterday promised he would finish proposals for tough new gun laws by Tuesday, and said they likely will include expanded background checks on firearms buyers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.

Biden provided a glimpse of the plan as he prepared to meet with the National Rifle Association.

After the White House meeting, the NRA blasted what it described as the administration’s attempt to trample the Constitution’s Second Amendment, which provides the right to bear arms.

“We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment,” the NRA said in a statement.

Biden, who is spearheading Obama’s push for more firearms restrictions in response to last month’s shooting massacre at a Connecticut school, suggested the proposals would include “universal background checks.”

Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo vowed to push forward with state gun control as the NRA and several Republican lawmakers yesterday accused him of trouncing the constitutional rights of gun owners.

But Albany insiders say any attempts to block gun control won’t succeed, with a deal possible as early as Monday.

Additional reporting by Erik Kriss and Carl Campanile