Walmart: OK, OK, We'll Meet With Biden on Guns

Retailer initially declined invitation to gun safety talks
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2013 10:16 AM CST
Walmart: OK, OK, We'll Meet With Biden on Guns
Shopper Jose Alvarez, right, carries out a newly-purchased television past protestors outside a Walmart store Friday Nov. 23, 2012, in Paramount, Calif.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Meetings of Joe Biden's gun control task force start this week, and Walmart made headlines right off when it initially declined to attend. The retailer—the largest seller of guns and ammo in the nation—apparently couldn't find anyone in its huge organization who could make it to tomorrow's meeting and turned down the invitation due to a scheduling conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported last night. But the chain did a quick 180 this morning, announcing it will send a rep to the meeting, which is focused on decreasing gun violence. "We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person," says a spokesperson, according to the Journal.

The task force is meeting with gun safety and gun victims' groups today; tomorrow, it will meet with gun ownership and sportsman's groups including the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The NRA will also participate, the Washington Times reports. "We are sending a rep to hear what they have to say," says a rep. The task force will also meet with representatives from the entertainment and video game industries, and mental health issues will also be examined, Fox News reports. The group aims to build consensus around proposals for decreasing gun violence, and Biden will present recommendations to President Obama later this month. (More Joe Biden stories.)

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