Ohio's Republican governor bucked his party to call for expanded gun laws Tuesday and some Democrats in Texas told U.S. President Donald Trump to stay away as both states reeled from a pair of shootings that killed 31 people.
Read more: Trump to visit El Paso after mass shooting kills 22
A racist screed remained the focus of police investigating the massacre at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, 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 Republican-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.
Students protest against gun violence outside the White House just days after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a south Florida high school, Washington DC, February 19, 2018. /VCG Photo
Persuading the legislature to pass such proposals could be an uphill battle. It has given little consideration this session to those and other gun-safety 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.
"We can come together to do these things to save lives," DeWine said.
FBI investigation Dayton shooting
On Tuesday, the FBI 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.
Read more: In less than a minute, Ohio gunman kills 9 people, including sister
Mourners bring flowers to a makeshift memorial for the slain and injured in the Oregon District after a mass shooting that occurred early Sunday morning, Dayton, Ohio, August 6, 2019. /AP Photo
Special Agent Todd Wickerham, head of the FBI's Cincinnati field office, said the agency is looking into who might have helped Betts and 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.
El Paso Democrats balk at Trump visit
President Donald Trump was planning visits to both cities Wednesday, 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 tweeted that the White House had invited her to join Trump during his visit but she'll instead attend a rally that organizers say will confront the president and white supremacy while calling for gun control.
A young white male is identified as the lone suspect in both El Paso and Dayton, triggering federal officials to investigate anti-immigrant bias as a potential motive in the Texas massacre. /VCG Photo
Escobar said Tuesday that victims' families were already using the city's newly opened resource center where various government and mental health services have set up booths.
"There's going to be a lot of trauma in our community; a lot of children saw things that no human being should see," Escobar said.
Gun control and immigration
On Monday, Trump 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.
Studies have repeatedly shown that immigrants have a lower level of criminality than those born in the U.S., both shooting suspects were citizens, and federal officials are investigating anti-immigrant bias as a potential motive in the Texas massacre.
In both El Paso and Dayton, a young white male was identified as the lone suspect. The suspect in the Texas shooting, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, was booked on murder charges. Betts was killed as police quickly swooped in to end his ambush.