Hillary Clinton: Oregon mass shooting is 'just beyond my comprehension'

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton called for new gun-control measures in the wake of a shooting at a community college in Oregon on Thursday that left at least 13 people dead.

In a statement to CNN reporter Dan Merica, Clinton expressed exasperation with the frequency of mass shootings in the US and called for expanded gun laws.

"It is just beyond my comprehension that we are seeing these mass murders happen again and again and again. And as I have said, we have got to get the political will to do everything we can to keep people safe," Clinton told Merica.

"You know I know there is a way to have sensible gun control measures that help prevent violence, prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and save lives."

Clinton has supported universal background checks for individuals hoping to buy guns, a measure that has broad public support but failed to pass Congress more than two years ago.

This isn't the first time the former secretary of state has commented on mass shootings during her candidacy.

In late August, Clinton took time after a press conference in Iowa to condemn the shooting of two reporters in Virginia by a disgruntled former co-worker.

"We have got to do something about gun violence in America," she told reporters at the time. "And I will take it on."

"There's so much evidence that if guns were not so readily available, if there were universal background checks ... that maybe we could prevent this kind of carnage," she added.