US President Barack Obama has said that he himself was surprised by his public crying this week while talking of steps to tackle gun violence. "I was, too, actually," Obama told CNN during a town hall on gun laws in a suburb here. "I think a lot of people were surprised by that moment," he was asked about his weeping incident at the White House this week. "I've said this before. It continues to haunt me. It was one of the worst days of my presidency," Obama said.

Wiping away tears as he spoke of children killed in Connecticut in 2012, Obama unveiled a series of executive actions on guns, including expanding mandatory background checks for some private sales.

Obama said he visited Newtown two days after what happened. "It was still very raw. It's the only time I've ever seen Secret Service cry on duty. It wasn't just the parents. You had siblings, 10-year-olds, eight-year- olds, three-year-olds who in some cases didn't even understand that their brother or sister weren't going to be coming home,' he said.

Obama said that he's never owned a gun but said that doesn't mean he he's spearheading a 'conspiracy' to take away other Americans' constitutional right to purchase firearms. "I have never owned a gun," Obama said.

"I grew up mostly in Hawaii, and other than hunting for wild pig, which they do once in a while there's not the popularity of hunting and sportsmanship with guns as much as there are in other parts of the country," he said.