Mayor R.T. Rybak slammed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on cable television Monday for "dancing around" new gun control measures winding through Congress.

Rybak, speaking ahead of President Obama's visit to talk gun control, said on MSNBC that he supports universal background checks and limits on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

"How can Harry Reid, a fellow Democrat -- and I'm willing to criticize him -- say he hasn't read the bill?" Rybak asked. "[Sen.] Diane Feinstein, she's been a mayor. She was there at a shooting. She put her finger in a bullet hole. She knows why we need this action."

A vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, Rybak said Reid was "dancing around this issue" while "people are dying in this country."

"I've been there. And so have many mayors around this country," Rybak added. "And we recognize the fact that this isn't about some sort of game about who wins or loses in Washington. These are people's lives."

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