Las Vegas shooting: White House refuses to debate gun control as death toll rises to 59
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The death toll in the Las Vegas concert shooting rose to 59 today with US authorities recovering a large cache of explosives from a house owned by the gunman Stephen Paddock.
The horrific shooting reopened the debate on gun control in America, however, the White House called for unity amid a raging debate in the country.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: "There is a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country."
"A motive is yet to be determined and it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don't fully know all of the facts or what took place last night," the press secretary added.
Tragedies like Las Vegas have happened too many times. We need to have the conversation about how to stop gun violence. We need it NOW.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 2, 2017
Going live with @maddow soon to talk about Las Vegas and why Congress needs to do something - anything - to try and stop this violence.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 3, 2017
President Donald Trump and the White House staff observed a moment of silence to remember the victims killed in the shooting at Las Vegas.
Police told AFP they had recovered "in excess of 18 additional firearms, some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo, along with some electronic devices" with law enforcement still at four different crime scenes searching for more evidence.
Sheriff Lombardo said the authorities had discovered explosives called tannerite in Paddock's Mesquite house including ammonia nitrate.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but US officials said there was no evidence of the terrorist group's hand in the shooting.
The police are yet to find a motive behind the shooting.