Obama says senseless violence must stop in US

RIMANEWS - US President Barack Obama has demanded an end to "senseless violence" across the country, calling on US citizens to focus on ways to stop it.

"We've got to put an end to this kind of senseless violence, whether it's in Aurora, whether it's in Oak Creek, whether it's in Tucson, whether it's in cities all across America where too many lives are cut short," Obama said during a campaign stop in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday.

"As one American family, we're going to have to come together and look at all the approaches that we can take to try to bring an end to it," Obama added.

The US president was referring to the recent shootings at a movie theater in Colorado and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, as well as the shooting of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona last year.

The Colorado shooting in Aurora left 12 people dead and 58 wounded last month. On Sunday, another mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek also killed six people.

The president, however, stopped short of calling for gun control throughout the country during his campaign speech.

Obama has repeatedly called for an end to violence in the country, but Washington has not been specific about the issue.

White House officials have said Obama is not going to push gun control legislation and have instead suggested that the problem be tackled in other unspecified ways.

Gun ownership is a sensitive issue, especially when Obama hopes to win in the November 6 election against his Republican rival Mitt Romney. [presstv]