The largest gun-rights group in the United States on Tuesday broke silence on last Friday's deadly mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, saying it was " shocked" and "saddened" by the latest incident of gun violence.

This is the first public statement from the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the wake of the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which took the lives of 20 schoolchildren and six adults.

The group said that it was "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown."

"The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again," it said after four days of silence since the tragedy occurred.

The group added that it plans to hold a "major news conference" in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

The cold-blooded massacre in Connecticut has drawn great public attention and rekindled the debate on gun control legislation in the country.

President Barack Obama "strongly" supports the renewal of the assault weapons ban and would back new gun legislation, the White House said on Tuesday at a daily briefing.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a senior Democrat and leading liberal voice in the Senate, said on Sunday that she is reintroducing a federal ban on assault weapons on the first day of the coming Congress.

Many gun control advocates have been ramping up public support for toughening existing gun control laws and measures since the Friday shooting.

Latest polls regarding the issue showed that Americans are still divided over gun control legislation. Yet about half of Americans believe that last Friday's incident reflects broader problems in the society rather than being an isolated act of some troubled individual. Endi

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