WBRZ - Baton Rouge

DANBURY, Conn. - Vice President Joe Biden plans to speak at a gun violence conference today, a few miles from the scene of last year's Newtown, Conn., school shooting massacre.

The conference is meant to push President Obama's gun control proposals. It was organized by members of Connecticut's congressional delegation, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who says the proximity to Newtown is of "symbolic significance."

Other officials including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the parents of one of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December also are scheduled to address the audience at Western Connecticut State University.

Gun makers and lobbyists weren't invited to participate.