Boehner: Door open to gun proposals

By NBC's Luke Russert

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wouldn’t shut the door on bringing up recommendations from Vice President Biden’s commission on gun violence in the House next year.

“We join the president in mourning the victims of the horrible tragedy in Connecticut,” Boehner said in response to a question from NBC News during press conference at the Capitol. “He's appointed Vice President Biden to lead a commission, and when the Vice President's recommendations come forward, we'll certainly take them into consideration.”

But the top House Republican wouldn’t commit, either, to allowing votes on specific gun control measures – like renewing the assault weapons ban or limiting ammunition magazines’ capacity – that Democrats have called for in the wake of last week’s elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

President Barack Obama tasked Biden on Wednesday with leading the task force on gun violence, which the president said he wanted to produce specific recommendations by next month. The panel was prompted by the tragic Newtown shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 teachers at an elementary school.

"The president is absolutely committed to keeping his promise that we will act and we will act in a way that is designed -- even if as he says we can only save one life -- we have to take action," Biden said at a meeting Thursday with cabinet and law enforcement officials.

Boehner’s words Thursday mark a relatively open stance by the speaker, who enjoys an “A” rating by the National Rifle Association. Back in July, after the shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., Boehner resisted calls for new regulations on guns saying: "The president has made clear that he's not going to use this horrific event to push for new gun law and I agree."