Barack Obama calls Las Vegas shooting 'a senseless tragedy'
Barack Obama said he is praying for the victims of the Las Vegas attack claimed by Isis which left over 50 people dead and more than 200 injured near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Nevada’s gaming strip.
The former US president wrote in a tweet: “Michelle and I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families and everyone enduring another senseless tragedy”.
An off-duty police officer was also killed in what is the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
In his last year of office, Mr Obama used his executive authority to push through a raft of actions in an effort to tighten gun control.
::Follow the latest updates on the Las Vegas shooting here
Referencing the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting which left 20 children and six teachers dead, he said: “We’ve created a system in which dangerous people are allowed to play by a different set of rules.
“I believe we can find ways to reduce gun violence in ways consistent with the Second Amendment.”
The executive actions included thorough background checking in firearm licencing requirements, funding more federal agents, tracing guns found in the midst of investigations to establish trafficking patterns, the establishment of an Internet Centre to track illegal online firearms trafficking; increasing access to mental health care and funding research into gun safety technology.
Donald Trump also responded to the Las Vegas attack by taking to Twitter: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!"
The shooter has been identified by officials as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old American who had multiple weapons on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, where he reportedly killed himself.
A statement published by Isis’ Amaq propaganda agency claimed the attacker was a “soldier of the Islamic state” and that he “converted to Islam several months ago”.
