Days after a white gunman shot nine people dead in an African-American church in South Carolina's Charleston area, U.S. President Barack Obama has claimed that gun violence in America is much worse in comparison to other developed nations like France, Israel and Japan.
A tweet posted by Obama via @POTUS on Saturday said, "Here are the stats: Per population, we kill each other with guns at a rate 297x more than Japan, 49x more than France, 33x more than Israel."
He also added, "Expressions of sympathy aren't enough. It's time we do something about this."
The statement came just days after Obama condemned Thursday' attack, saying that this type of mass violence did not happen in other advanced countries.
Six women and three men, including the pastor, were killed in the attack after the gunman opened fire during a Bible study meeting.
A survey published in The Guardian showed that the U.S. has the highest gun ownership rate in the world, with an average of 88 per 100 people.