Orlando suspect was probably a homegrown extremist: Obama

US President Barack Obama has described the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub as an act of homegrown extremism, while at the same time calling for stricter gun laws in America.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating both domestic and international connections to the mass shooting that left 49 people dead and 53 others injured on Sunday. The Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

“As far as we can tell right now, this is certainly an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been so concerned about for a very long time,” Obama said on Monday.

He was speaking in the Oval Office in the White House after receiving a briefing from law enforcement, counterterrorism and Homeland Security officials, including FBI Director James Comey.

The suspect in the shooting, identified by US media as an alleged Daesh sympathizer named Omar Mateen, is a US citizen of Afghan descent from Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Obama said there is “no clear evidence” to suggest that the shooter was part of a larger plot.

The US president added the Orlando carnage should prompt Americans to “think about the risks that we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful firearms available to people in this country.”

“We make it very easy for individuals who are troubled, or disturbed, or want to engage in violent acts to obtain very powerful weapons very easily, and it’s a problem,” Obama said, noting that apparently the suspect had conducted the shooting with guns purchased legally.

"We are going to have to make sure that we think about the risks we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful firearms available to people in this country," Obama said. "My concern is that we start getting into a debate, as has happened in the past, which is an either/or debate."

"It's not an either/or. It's a both/and," Obama said. "We have to counter extremism, but we also have to make sure it's not easy for somebody who decides they want to harm people in this country to be able to obtain weapons to get at them."

Obama has admitted that the greatest frustration of his presidency has been his failure to pass "common sense gun safety laws" in the United States.

Earlier this year, he made a passionate plea about the urgency to fight gun violence in the country, blasting Congress for inaction in the face of too many tragic deaths by firearms.

He announced a raft of executive actions to curb the gun violence, but added that Congress, which blocked a tougher gun bill in 2013, still needs to act to reform the US gun laws.

Obama slammed those members of Congress who have been taken “hostage” by the powerful gun lobby, and put their desire to get elected before the safety of American citizens.

Later on, Obama said America should learn a lesson from Australia, where firearms are strictly controlled and gun violence is almost unheard of.

The Republican-controlled Congress has snubbed efforts of the Obama administration to tighten gun laws.

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