Vice President Joe Biden plans to speak Thursday at a conference on gun violence just a few miles from the scene of the December shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in an elementary school.
Experts in the fields of mental health, law enforcement and education are participating in the conference. The parents of seven-year-old Newtown victim Grace McDonnell also are taking part in one of the panels.
The Connecticut event was organized by members of the state's congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal.
President Barack Obama is pushing for universal background checks for gun owners, a ban on military-style assault weapons and limits to the size of ammunition magazines.