Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spoke out against lax gun laws in response to a shooting late last week in the U.S. state of Connecticut in which 20 children and six teachers died when a gunman went on a rampage in an elementary school.
"A horrifying tragedy. Incredible grief," Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday. "I completely agree with those who oppose the free circulation of guns. That's my position as a matter of principle," he said.
Medvedev made the comments after Facebook users responded to an earlier post in which the prime minister sent his condolences to U.S. President Barack Obama over the attack, which was the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
U.S. police have identified the killer as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who police say was armed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a semi-automatic rifle and two pistols when he burst into Sandy Hook elementary school in the town of Newtown.
Lanza, who shot his mother before driving to the school, later took his own life.
Shortly after the attack on Friday, Obama made an appeal for "meaningful action" against gun crime. On Sunday, two senior Democrats called for stricter gun control, the BBC reported.
Dmitry Kislov, of the Right to Arms public movement, told The Moscow Times in July that about 4 million Russians now legally own firearms, but only with licenses that limit their use to hunting and self-defense on private premises.
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