The White House says that it will respect Americans’ right to have weapons as stipulated in the Second Amendment.

White House spokesman Jay Carney made the remarks in a news briefing on Monday, local time, in the wake of several major shootings in the U.S.

Carney said that President Barack Obama will instruct his administration to work towards "common-sense measures" to protect Second Amendment rights for law-abiding citizens. The spokesman continued, however, that Obama will make it harder and harder for people who should not have weapons under existing law get a hold of them.

Carney said Obama made it clear that violence is a problem in the U.S. that is greater than just the issue of gun laws, adding that more extensive and various approaches are needed to address violence.