US President Donald Trump says that background checks on gun buyers would not have prevented mass shootings that have recently taken place in the country. RNA - “Background checks — I will say that for the most part, sadly, if you look at the last four or five, going back even five or six or seven years — for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. So it's a big problem. It's a mental problem,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He made the remarks a day after a shooting in West Texas left seven people dead and 22 others wounded, including a toddler.
A gunman opened fire during a traffic stop near the town of Midland, shooting randomly at bystanders at a Home Depot department store.
He then moved on to a Movie theater in neighboring city of Odessa, where he was shot and killed by police.
The shooter was a “very sick person,” Trump said, adding, “It could have been worse.”
He also said, “We're looking at the same things,” adding, “It really hasn't changed anything."
“A lot of people are talking about it, and that’s irrespective of what happened yesterday in Texas,” the president said of possible gun reform measures.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as a number of Democratic presidential candidates have called for stricter gun laws following the incident.
Schumer and Pelosi took to Twitter, calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to introduce legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases.
Several presidential contenders from the Democratic Party also condemned the shooting.
Trump said “I think Congress has got a lot of thinking to do frankly,” adding, “I think you’re going to see some interesting things coming along.”
Last month, a white young male targeted mostly native Mexican residents in the Texas city of El Paso, killing 22 and wounding nearly 30 more. Another assailant killed nine and injured 27 in Dayton, Ohio.
847/940