LONDON — Images of a tearful President Barack Obama speaking after a shooting rampage in Connecticut resonated around the world, with many outside the United States expressing hope Saturday that America's latest school massacre would prompt the country to strengthen gun control.
Shock and sympathy were the initial reactions to the rampage that left 28 people dead, including 20 children at an elementary school — though as dawn broke in the US, questions swirled overseas about the easy access to guns in America.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Union's executive Commission, said: "Young lives full of hope have been destroyed. On behalf of the European Commission and on my own behalf, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy."
EPA
British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses a news conference yesterday.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING
The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their home before beginning his deadly rampage inside the school in Newtown, Connecticut, then committed suicide, police said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, said he was "deeply saddened" to learn of the "horrific shooting."
"My thoughts are with the injured and those who have lost loved ones," he said. "It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them at such a young age, when they had so much life ahead of them."
Queen Elizabeth II sent a message to President Barack Obama, saying she was shocked to learn of the "dreadful loss of life" and that the thoughts and prayers of all in the U.K. are with those affected by the events.
Pope Benedict XVI asked the Holy See's secretary of state to "convey his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families, and to all those affected by the shocking event," the Vatican said Saturday. It also sent a condolence message to Monsignor Jerald A. Doyle at the diocese in Connecticut that includes Newton.
But amid the messages of condolences, much of the discussion after the Connecticut rampage centered on gun control — a baffling subject for many in Asia and Europe, where mass shootings also have occurred but where access to guns is much more heavily restricted.
Many Twitter users and media personalities in the U.K. immediately invoked Dunblane — a 1996 shooting in that small Scottish town which killed 16 children. That tragedy prompted a campaign that ultimately led to tighter gun controls effectively making it illegal to buy or possess a handgun in the U.K.
Foreign leaders shocked and saddened by Connecticut tragedy
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Foreign leaders shocked and saddened by Connecticut tragedy
