Revd Jesse Jackson has called for tighter gun laws in the US, in the wake of the Charleston church shooting of nine black worshippers in South Carolina in June.
The civil rights activist and anti-gun campaigner made the comments during an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where he was reflecting on a turbulent year for race relations in America; where a series of police shootings of black men have also occurred.
Mr Jackson said: "We've simply become much too violent. We make the most guns and we shoot them. Americans have approximately three guns per person on average.
"We make the most bombs and we drop them.
"When Dr (Martin Luther) King said we were the most violent nation on earth he was roundly attacked, but he was right."
He added: "What is striking to me is that each incident is worse than the last one.
"It's just fundamentally wrong and dangerous to have such easy access to weapons.
"We are playing with mayhem...we are much too violent.
"You combine weapons with the vitriol of hate and fear, that's a toxic combination."
Nine churchgoers were killed at a Bible study group at Emanuel AME church in Charleston back in June.
Dylann Roof, 21, was subsequently charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm.
-About a third of all Americans with children under 18 at home have a gun in their household, including 34% of families with children younger than 12. That's nearly identical to the share of childless adults or those with older children who have a firearm at home, according to the Pew Research Center.
-Blacks are significantly more likely than whites to be gun homicide victims, blacks are only about half as likely as whites to have a firearm in their home (41% vs. 19%).
-Hispanics are less likely than blacks to be gun homicide victims and half as likely as whites to have a gun at home (20%).
-Pew found that gun ownership is concentrated among older adults, rural residents, and whites, especially white Southerners. Whites in the South are more likely to own guns than whites in other regions.
