The Prime Minister said Britons could not ‘understand’ why there were not stronger restrictions in America
Theresa May waded into the US gun control row today urging ‘action’ after the deadly massacre in Las Vegas.
The Prime Minister said Britons could not ‘understand’ why there were not stronger restrictions in America.
She stressed it was up to the US to decide, but added: ‘Surely they will want to do something.’
The comments came after a crazed gunman slaughtered 59 people who were attending a concert in Las Vegas yesterday.
Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air music festival.
Police found 23 guns in his hotel room and more than a dozen more firearms at his Nevada home.
In a round of broadcast interviews at Tory conference in Manchester today, Mrs May made clear her horror at the incident. She said there did not appear to be any British casualties.
Mrs May told LBC radio: ‘We cannot understand it because we have a different approach to guns…
‘Obviously we tightened the gun laws after Dunblame.’
Mrs may said America has a ‘different approach to guns, it is up to them’.
But she said Britons would ‘assume’ there would be action to tighten the rules in the wake of the latest atrocity.
‘If you look at what has happened here surely they will want to do something,’ Mrs May said.
Speaking to Sky News, Mrs May said: ‘I understand that this individual had a very significant arsenal of weapons with him in the hotel and another significant arsenal back home.’
She added: ‘I think that most people would look at this and assume that America will be so shocked by this attack that they would want to take some action.’
President Trump has described the massacre as ‘an act of pure evil’.
Paddock had made millions from real estate deals, according to his brother.
He also owned two planes and several properties across the US, and seemed normal apart from his passion for gambling large sums.
But he’d also secretly amassed a massive arsenal of 42 firearms. At least one of those was automatic, while another two had been modified with legal bump-stock devices that allows semi-automatic guns to give full-auto fire of up to 800 rounds a minute.
Paddock (seen here in an undated photo) made a fortune in real estate, his brother said. He seemed an unremarkable man, aside from a heavy gambling habit – and didn’t even have a traffic violation on his Nevada criminal record
Four DDM4 rifles – made by Daniel Defense – were among the 23 weapons found in Paddock’s hotel room by the SWAT team after they busted in. They sell for around $1,700
He took 23 of those guns into his Mandalay Bay suite over several days and set up two rifles on tripods at windows overlooking the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
Thousands of rounds of ammunition were also found in the suite, enabling him to fire repeatedly over the course of 72 minutes. His car had several pounds of a fertilizer used in bomb-making.
Paddock had lived in 27 residences in Nevada, Florida and Texas as an adult, but other than that he had apparently lived a quiet and unremarkable life – and the reason for the most deadly assault in American history remains a mystery.