US gun owners are destroying their rifles in response to the Florida school mass shooting which claimed 17 lives.

Gun owner Scott-Dani Pappalardo, who has a tattoo of the Second Amendment honouring Americans' rights to bear arms, inspired the #OneLess campaign with an impassioned anti-gun speech which has been viewed by more than 17 million people.

The New Yorker, who legally purchased and registered the AR-15 assault rifle 30 years ago, said the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy had changed his mind about gun control.

Mr Pappalardo’s powerful video, in which he uses an angle grinder to saw his weapon in half, has now encouraged others to do the same.

“I remember after Sandy Hook happened I said to my wife ‘I’d gladly give this gun up if it would save the life of just one child.’ That’s five years ago now and since then over 400 people have been shot in over 200 school shootings.