JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: One day after they showed their strength in numbers in the Million Mom March, gun control advocates are on Capitol Hill today to press Congress for tougher laws to stop gun violence. President Clinton has joined the fight, unveiling new plans to protect cops on the beat and honor those who died in the line of duty. CNN senior White House correspondent John King joins us now with details -- John.</s>JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jeanne. The president very much hoping the momentum generated by this weekend's Million Mom March will help him persuade the Congress to pass new gun control measures. The president has been unsuccessful the past several months in convincing the House and Senate to work out their differences on major gun control legislation. The president due in just a few minutes on the west steps of the Capitol. We can show you the crowd waiting there. This an event honoring the Fraternal Order of Police, and especially those officers killed in the line of duty this past year. In his announcement, the president will announce the government is releasing $24 million to law enforcement agencies around the country; that to purchase 90,000 bulletproof vests. The president will also call on Congress to pass legislation that would spend $150 million over three years to buy as many as a half million of those bulletproof vests. Still, the president will then pivot and make the case to the American people that this weekend's march, that the law enforcement officers gathered around him, shows that there is wide support in the country for more gun control measures. The president wants the Congress to close the so-called "gun show loophole" allowing people to purchase guns without background checks at gun shows; also wants to raise the age for purchasing a handgun from 18 to 21. The opposition will argue that more gun control laws are not the answer, that better education would help. Enforcing existing laws is one thing the president's critics argue for. And gun control -- gun rights advocates argue that it is parents, not the government, that should do more to keep guns out of the hands of children -- Jeanne.</s>MESERVE: John King at the White House, thank you.
President Clinton Unveils $24M Plan to Buy Police Bulletproof Vests