Las Vegas atrocity sparks new calls for gun control laws in US

President Donald Trump is facing renewed calls to tighten gun control laws after the US was inflicted with its deadliest mass shooting in recent history.

Politicians and entertainers from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga were among those to demand tightening of regulations after 59 people were killed and 527 wounded at a music concert on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday.

Stephen Paddock, 64, rained bullets down on the concert-goers from a 32nd-floor hotel room before turning a gun on himself, according to police.

Republican leaders had been trying to win concessions to relax regulations on gun silencers and to allow greater freedom for holders of permits to carry concealed weapons.

Former Democrat presidential candidate Mrs Clinton said the massacre could have been even deadlier if a silencer was used to mask the gunfire.

“Our grief isn’t enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA (National Rifle Association), and work together to try to stop this from happening again,” she added.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat’s leader in the House, wrote to Congress’s most senior Republican, Paul Ryan, asking him to form a select committee on gun violence and to allow a vote for increased background checks on gun sales.

“Congress has a moral duty to address this horrific and heartbreaking epidemic,” she wrote.

“Today is a day for prayer, mourning and love, but it must also be a day for action.

Lady Gaga said “blood is on the hands of those who have power to legislate”.

“Democrats & Republicans please unite now #guncontrol,” she tweeted.

Ariana Grande, who was performing when 22 were killed at the Manchester Arena by a suicide bomber, added to calls.

“We need love, unity, peace, gun control & for people to look at this & call this what it is = terrorism,” she tweeted.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling added: “The massacre of schoolchildren in Dunblane led to UK gun law reform, which is why many stunned that there was no US change after Sandy Hook.”

Labour MP and former deputy leader Harriet Harman called for gun control in the US while Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said Mr Trump should act on the evidence to “honour the memory” of those slain in Las Vegas.

Despite the calls for immediate action, the White House said now is not the time for a debate on control.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “Today is a day for consoling the survivors and mourning those we lost.”