The White House is weighing a far-reaching package of legislation that would tighten restrictions on firearm sales and ownership by requiring universal background checks for gun buyers and creating a national database to track the weapons. 

Gun rights advocates say the measures would crush private sales of firearms and lead to government confiscation of legally-owned guns.

A group led by Vice President Joe Biden to study gun control is considering the various measures and compiling a list of them to send to President Obama before the end of the month. The group convened after 20 children and six adults were killed in a gun massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month.