Hillary Clinton has said she will seek to employ new gun control measures to curb gun violence if she is elected as President.
She spoke out after the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon last week, in which nine people were killed and another nine wounded.
Clinton said she wants to begin a "national movement" to counter the influence of the National Rifle Association, the nation's top gun-rights advocacy group, but she has still to say what specific measures she would take if elected to the White House in November 2016.
Her campaign has said among the steps she will announce later today is the use of the presidential executive authority to close a particular loophole. Currently, people buying firearms at gun shows and on the internet avoid background checks and sales tax which is applicable to those buying from traditional retailers.
Clinton will also push Congress to pass laws that prohibit all domestic abusers, including stalkers, from purchasing guns and to close what she will call the "Charleston loophole", referring to a June shooting at an African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine dead.
Currently, if a background check does not complete within three days, a gun sale can proceed. The alleged Charleston shooter was able to purchase his gun because of this loophole, as did 2,500 other people in 2014 who would have otherwise been barred from making such a purchase.
She also aims to build on her recent calls to make the background check system more comprehensive and on her calls to take "military-style assault weapons" off the streets by pledging to repeal a 2005 law that she says gives gun manufacturers and dealers "immunity," her campaign said.
While she was a US senator representing New York, a bill was passed – which she voted against – that prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent manufacturers and dealers accountable for crimes committed with their guns. Her campaign has said she will seek its repeal as president.
Additional Reporting by Reuters.
