News / Politics

US gun deaths dwarf those related to terrorism: Obama

Thursday, 27 August 2015 2:16 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 27 August 2015 1:17 PM ]

US President Barack Obama arrives at the White House on August 25, 2015 in Washington, DC after a trip to Las Vegas for a speaking engagement. (AFP photo)

US President Barack Obama says the number of gun deaths in the United States dwarfs those related to terrorism.

Obama made the remarks on Wednesday, after a man shot dead two fellow journalists during a live TV program in the state of Virginia. The suspect had accused one of them of making racist comments.

“It breaks my heart every time you read or hear about these kinds of incidents,” Obama said told Philadelphia TV station WPVI.

“What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism,” he added.

The suspect, identified as Vester Lee Flanagan died from a self-inflicted wound on Wednesday in a hospital in northern Virginia.

Flanagan, 41, is suspected of killing colleagues Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward, 27, during a live broadcast in Roanoke, Virginia on Wednesday morning.

The motivation of the killing is not clear yet; however, Flanagan posted videos of the shooting on social media, saying one of his victims had "made racist comments." A Twitter account under the suspect’s name was suspended after it posted video of the killings.

The United States has been grappling with an increasing number of gun-related deaths over the past couple of years.

The government’s efforts to impose tougher gun control laws have so far failed to produce results.

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House slammed Congress for refusing to tighten gun control laws.

“This is another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common in communities large and small all across the United States,” Earnest said.

Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot and killed in the United States.

The US averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.

About 4.5 million firearms are sold annually in the United States at a cost of 2 to 3 billion dollars.

Obama has said the greatest frustration of his time in the office has been the inability to reduce unparalleled levels of gun violence in the United States.

Following the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, Obama pushed for gun reforms, including expanded background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines, but the powerful National Rifle Association of America and its people in Congress fiercely opposed the measures.

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