U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he backs President Obama's plan to curb gun violence and he hopes the nation can still avoid the fiscal cliff. (Photo from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's Facebook page)

By Stephanie Pawlowski

BLOOMINGTON - President Obama is asking a team led by Vice President Biden to offer "concrete proposals" to curb gun violence in the aftermath of the horrific massacre at a Connecticut elementary school. And, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) backs the plan.

He said the military assault weapon was made to kill human beings.

"I cannot believe any of my friends who are sportsmen and hunters in Central Illinois honestly believe that this type of weapon, an AR-15 an AK-47 really would be one that they would ever use for a sporting purpose, for hunting or even for self defense," Durbin said.

PODCAST: Listen to Durbin's interview with WJBC's Scott Laughlin and Colleen Reynolds here.

Durbin said mental health care needs to be reformed, as well.

"We need more counseling on campus, we need more counseling at schools, we need to be able to detect those that have problems," Durbin said.

Fiscal cliff

Sen. Durbin feels there is still a chance Congress will be able to keep the nation from falling off the fiscal cliff. But, he calls House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) Plan B a plan to go off the cliff.

"And, that is sad. In fact, it's tragic. It's going to hurt a lot of innocent people," Durbin said. "The negotiation between the speaker and the president, that's the only avenue to get this done. We know, I hope everyone knows, this can only be solved if both Democrats and Republicans get together on it."

The bill to raise taxes on incomes over $1 million a year is doomed to fail in the Democratic-led Senate and President Obama says he'll veto it.

Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie.Pawlowski@Cumulus.com