WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden says he's more concerned about limiting the number of rounds in a gun magazine than about banning assault weapons that account for a small percentage of gun deaths.

The vice president participated in an online chat Thursday on Google Plus.

He says that if the shooter at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., had had fewer rounds and had to change clips more often, he might have been slowed enough to save at least one child's life.

Biden says he supports a ban on assault weapons, though he acknowledges they don't account for a large portion of gun deaths in America. He says a ban would solve part of the gun violence problem, particularly for police who can be outgunned by criminals with assault weapons.