Biden, who will appear Friday night at a South Carolina Democratic dinner, told the officials during a meeting Thursday that he is planning trips around the country to stump for the expanded background checks and gun trafficking laws that failed to pass the Senate last month.

The vice president also rattled off poll numbers for senators the White House and its gun control allies think they can win over, and said he’ll lead the effort to tweak legislation to give recalcitrant senators the cover to vote for expanded background checks.

And Biden volunteered that he “hasn’t really discussed” his plans with Obama and plans to lead the gun control charge, according to a person who attended the meeting.

“He was talking like he was going to be leading it, ” the law enforcement official said. “He didn’t mention any other senators in terms of leading the charge.”

The 90-minute meeting in Biden’s ceremonial office followed a similar session last week for leading gun control groups. Like that meeting, Thursday’s gathering focused more on what will happen next than what mistakes led to the failure of the background checks bill offered by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).