Vice President Joe Biden sat down with NBC Connecticut's Keisha Grant about President Obama's executive action that tackles gun control in the United States. 
 
 The vice president stressed that the executive action does not take away the rights from lawful gun owners and gun buyers but instead keeps guns out of the hands of the wrong people. 
 
 "It's something that haunts you," the vice president said about the Sandy Hook massacre. "It's the idea of those beautiful little babies in those classrooms-- like dolls, discarded... It seems like yesterday." 
 
 Biden told NBC Connecticut that this executive action was not new but instead the last of several executive orders instituted by the president three years ago when the attack happened. Biden said he created a 40 point proposal that he and the community were excited about but was ultimately shot down. 
 
 Biden 1-on1 
 
 (Published Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016) 
 
 "It's not like we waited," Biden said. "We moved." 
 
 " It quite frankly surprised me that so few were ready to step up," Biden said about his Republican and Democratic colleagues. "After giving them every chance to do something the president decided we can't wait any longer for these initiatives." 
 
 Biden insisted that as a gun owner himself, the executive action was not an example of the government overreaching as critics have said. He asked if someone who is schizophrenic or recently out of jail for violence should be able to buy a gun. 
 
 "Under our constitution you have a right to own a gun," Biden said. "Unless you are mentally incapable, unless you have a criminal record, unless you have done bad things that we cant trust you with owning a gun." 
 
 The vice president pointed out that since Connecticut's Gov. Malloy passed laws on gun control that the state has seen "significantly" fewer gun deaths. 
 
 He explained that the new action will require background checks that will be available 24 hours a day to determine if someone has a criminal record when they buy a gun. The action is to avoid unlawful gun owners from "slipping through the cracks." 
 
 "What does that have to do with the second amendment right of owning a gun?" Biden asked. 
 
 Biden called Republican criticisms "silly." 
 
 "In this is a case, the more the American people learn what we're doing and not doing, the more support (the action will get)," Biden stated. 

 Story highlights Vice President Joe Biden told an NBC affiliate that he regrets "every day" not running for president 
 
 Biden said his decision to sit out the 2016 race was in his family's best interests 
 
 Washington (CNN) Vice President Joe Biden says he regrets "every day" that he didn't enter the 2016 presidential race -- but his decision was in his family's best interests. 
 
 "I regret it every day, but it was the right decision for my family and for me. And I plan on staying deeply involved," Biden said in an interview with Connecticut NBC affiliate WVIT. 
 
 Biden said the Democratic race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is "what I expected," adding that there has been a "real robust debate between Hillary and Bernie, as there would have been if I had gotten in the race." 
 
 Photos: Who's running for president? Photos: Who's running for president? Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Businessman Donald Trump announced June 16 at his Trump Tower in New York City that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. This ends more than two decades of flirting with the idea of running for the White House."So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has made a name for himself in the Senate, solidifying his brand as a conservative firebrand willing to take on the GOP's establishment. He announced he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination in a speech on March 23."These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined the Republican field July 21 as he formally announced his White House bid. 
 
 
 
 "I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because I have decided to run for president of the United States," Kasich told his kickoff rally at the Ohio State University. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid on April 12 through a video message on social media. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state is considered the front-runner among possible Democratic candidates."Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? 
 
 
 
 "This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, announced his run in an email to supporters on April 30. He has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans to take back control of the government from billionaires."This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Hide Caption 6 of 6 
 
 Biden's comments came during a spate of local television interviews in which he pushed President Barack Obama's executive actions on gun control. 
 
 Biden ended months of intense speculation about his political future in October with a sudden announcement that he wouldn't seek the presidency, abandoning a dream he's harbored for decades. 
 
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– First there was Joe Biden's indecision about running for president, an uncertainty that CNN says "consumed Democrats for months." Now it's time to deal with his misgivings over the decision he finally did make. "I regret it every day, but it was the right decision for my family and for me," he told NBC Connecticut in an interview Wednesday in which he mainly talked about President Obama's executive action on guns. "And I plan on staying deeply involved." Biden added during the interview that "we've got two good candidates" in Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, noting there's been "real robust debate between Hillary and Bernie, as there would have been if I had gotten in the race" and "no personal attacks that I'm aware of." As for the GOP side? "The kinds of things that Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are saying are so inconsistent with—well, we'll see what the election says, but it's not been a very illuminating campaign so far." (At least Jill thought he made the right move.)