President Barack Obama will hold a moment of silence at the White House on Friday, one week after a gunman opened fire and fatally shot 26 people, including 20 children, and Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The moment of silence comes as Obama released a video that responds to an online petition seeking stricter gun laws in the wake of the shooting that shocked the nation.
“We hear you,” Obama tells petitioners.
Vice President Joe Biden has been tapped to lead a task force to develop concrete proposals to introduce in the 113th Congress, which convenes in January.
Biden helped draft the 1994 Crime Bill that banned military-style assualt rifles.