The shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday left 19 students and two adults dead. The gunman, identified by law enforcement as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was also killed.
Speaking during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis called for an end to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms, Press TV reported.
"I am praying for the children and adults who were killed, and for their families. It is time to say enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of arms," he said.
“Let us all commit ourselves so that such tragedies can never happen again,” he added.
The gunman wielded an AR-15-style rifle in the shooting, with officials saying he legally purchased two such weapons days before the massacre.
The incident came just 10 days after a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., which left 10 people dead and had already led many to push for action on gun safety.
KI/PR