The Obama administration is set to harness the mood of the country in the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary to enact wide-ranging efforts to reduce gun violence, according to the Washington Post.

Vice-President Joe Biden was named by President Obama in the days after the massacre to head a task force charged with finding ways the government could act to prevent further shootings. What seems to be emerging following discussions between the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and Education is a much broader set of ideas that would seek to clamp down on gun violence throughout the country.

Beyond reinstating the lapsed Assault Weapon Ban and enacting bans on high-capacity ammunition magazines, the White House is reported to be considering instituting universal background checks for gun buyers, boosting mental health checks, putting into place a national database to track the movement and sale of weapons, and locking in harsher penalties for carrying guns in the vicinity of schools.

Faced with a potentially harsh Congress and efforts by pro-gun lobbyists to hamper such moves, the task force is also considering ways to work around those roadblocks:

In addition to potential legislative proposals, Biden’s group has expanded its focus to include measures that would not need congressional approval and could be quickly implemented by executive action, according to interest-group leaders who have discussed options with Biden and key Cabinet secretaries. Possibilities include changes to federal mental-health programs and modernization of gun-tracking efforts by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In doing so, the administration has made clear that it is willing to take on the National Rifle Association and other special interest groups to reduce the impact of firearms in America. Among the ways the White House is seeking to outflank their opponents, according to the Post story, is by working both by working in tandem with law enforcement officials and in convincing businesses like Walmart of the economic benefit to be had in reform.

Despite a growing coalition willing to take on gun violence, the rumored proposals are already receiving pushback from pro-gun members of both parties as memory of the devastation of Sandy Hook begins to fade. On ABC’s This Week, incoming Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) referred to the Washington Post’s reporting to say that the measures seemed “extreme” and would not pass. Likewise, incoming Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) indicated that he was of the belief that further gun safety legislation would be “unconstitutional.”

Newly-elected Sen. Ted Cruiz (R-TX) accused politicians of exploiting the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut to advance gun safety legislation and argued that efforts to limit assault weapons and high capacity magazines are unconstitutional. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Cruz said he would back efforts to strengthen the federal database used to determine whether a prospective buyer is eligible to buy firearms, but argued that any other reforms would violate the Second Amendment:

HOST: You are a fierce defender of Second Amendment rights…. is there any new gun control that you would accept?

CRUZ: The reason we are discussing this is because of the the tragedy in Newtown. And every parent, my wife and I we have two girls aged four and two, every parent was horrified at what happened there. To see 20 children, six dults senselessly murdered it takes your breath away. But within minutes, we saw politicians run out and try to exploit and push their political agenda of gun control. I do not suppor their gun control agenda for two reasons. Number one, it is it unconstitutional.

The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, but it is not absolute and lawmakers have introduced a series of common-sense restrictions. For instance, in the Heller case, the Supreme Court found that while a handgun ban is not constitutional, because handguns are in “common use,” a machine gun is not and therefore could be restricted. An assault weapon equipped with a clip that can shoot hundreds of rounds would likely fall into the same category. As conservative Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, “the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled shotguns.”

In 2011, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld a law prohibiting large-capacity ammunition magazines and assault weapons.

There were no serious challenges to the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004, though in 2002 an appeals court unanimously upheld the law.