President Obama continues to publicly lobby Congress for passage of his bid to reform the nation’s gun laws. On Monday, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hosted the police chiefs of three communities that have seen mass shootings in the past year: Oak Creek, Wisconsin; Aurora, Colorado; and, most recently, Newtown, Connecticut.

President Obama: “The only way that we’re going to be able to do everything that needs to be done is with the cooperation of Congress. And that means passing serious laws that restrict the access and availability of assault weapons and magazine clips that aren’t necessary for hunters and sportsmen and those responsible gun owners who are out there. If law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, Congress is going to be paying attention to them, and we’ll be able to make progress.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin its first hearing on Obama’s proposals on Wednesday.