Gun reform calls, Trump set to visit

President told to stay away from El Paso

Ohio’s Republican Governor has bucked his party to call for expanded gun laws while some Democrats in Texas told President Donald Trump to stay away as both states reeled from a pair of shootings that killed 31 people.

A racist screed remained the focus of police investigating the massacre at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were killed, while the FBI opened an investigation into the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, citing the gunman’s interest in violent ideology.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine urged the GOP-led state Legislature to pass laws requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales and allowing courts to restrict firearms access for people perceived as threats.

Persuading the Legislature to pass such proposals could be an uphill battle. It has given little consideration this session to those and other gunsafety measures already introduced by Democrats and DeWine’s Republican predecessor, John Kasich, also unsuccessfully pushed for a so-called red flag law on restricting firearms for people considered threats.

The FBI yesterday opened an investigation into the mass shooting at a popular Dayton nightlife district to

try to determine what ideologies influenced 24-year-old gunman Connor Betts. Special Agent Todd Wickerham, head of the FBI’s Cincinnati field office, said the agency was looking into who might have helped Betts and trying to work out why he chose his specific target.

Wickerham didn’t say whether the FBI is looking at treating the case as domestic terrorism, as it did in the Texas mass shooting earlier in the weekend.

Trump was planning visits to both cities today, an announcement that stirred some resistance in El Paso.

Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar of El Paso made clear that the President was not welcome in her hometown as it mourned.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who was an El Paso congressman for six years, also said Trump should stay away.

Escobar said she would attend a rally that would confront the President and white supremacy while calling for gun control.

Trump on Tuesday made a vague expression of openness to new gun laws, suggesting a bill to expand gun background checks could be combined with his long-sought effort to toughen the nation’s immigration system but gave no rationale for the pairing.