Ohio gun reform urged as Texas Democrats balk at Trump visit

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EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Ohio's Republican governor bucked his party to call for expanded gun laws Tuesday and some Democrats in Texas told President Donald Trump to stay away as both states reeled from a pair of shootings that killed 31 people.

People crowd around a makeshift memorial near the site of a mass shooting over the weekend at a shopping complex, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. (Source: AP Photo/John Locher)

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.



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.


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.

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.




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.

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.


A woman who briefly dated the Ohio gunman said he suffered from bipolar disorder, joked about his dark thoughts and exhibited a fascination with mass shootings.

Adelia Johnson wrote in an online essay that Betts showed her a video of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on their first date.

She said Betts expressed "uncontrollable urges" that she called "red flags," which eventually led her to call things off in May.


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.




Attanasio reported from El Paso. Contributing to this report were Julie Carr Smyth and Kantele Franko in Columbus, Ohio; Astrid Galvan and Morgan Lee in El Paso; Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas; and Zeke Miller and Jonathan Lemire in Washington.

Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
