“All of us are heart-broken by what happened,” US President Barack Obama told reporters at the White House, after a gunman opened fire on Sikh worshippers.

It would be very important for us to reaffirm once again that in this country, regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we are all one people

Six were killed before he was shot dead by a police officer.

But when asked whether he would push for further gun-control measures in the wake of the shootings, Mr Obama replied that he wanted to bring together leaders at all levels of American society to examine ways to curb the violence.

That echoed his pledge last month in a speech in New Orleans to work broadly to “arrive at a consensus” on the contentious issue after a deadly Colorado shooting spree highlighted the problem in an election year.

But like his earlier comments, Mr Obama offered no timetable or specifics for such discussions and did not call outright for tighter gun control laws.

Talk of reining in America’s gun culture is considered politically risky for Mr Obama, who is locked in a tight race against Republican challenger Mitt Romney for the November election.

“All of us recognise that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity for us not to do some soul searching to examine additional ways that we can reduce violence,” Mr Obama said at an Oval Office ceremony to sign an unrelated Bill.

But he added, “As I’ve already said, there are a lot of elements involved in it.”

The Democratic President has made a point of emphasising his support for the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which covers the right to bear arms.

White House spokesman Jay Carney reiterated, however, that Mr Obama remained in favour of renewing an assault weapons ban but pointed out there has been reluctance by Congress to pass it.

Mr Obama said the FBI was still investigating the temple shooting, but if it turned out it was ethnically motivated, the American people would immediately recoil.

“It would be very important for us to reaffirm once again that in this country, regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we are all one people,” he said.

Police identified the Wisconsin gunman as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old US Army veteran. A group that monitors extremists said he was a member of a racist skinhead band.

In a show of respect for the victims of the shooting in a Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Mr Obama ordered flags at all US government facilities at home and abroad to be flown at half-mast until sunset on Friday.

But in his appearance before reporters on Monday, he did not answer a question on whether he planned to travel to Wisconsin.