August 5, 2019

Trump Suggests Pairing Legislation to Strengthen Gun Background Checks With Immigration Reform

He similarly claimed to support strengthening background checks after Parkland.

Liu Jie/Xinhua/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump on Monday said that he supported a move to strengthen background checks in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and he suggested tying such legislation to immigration reform. 

The two shootings, which took place nearly 13 hours apart this weekend, killed at least 29 people and injured dozens. The suspected gunman in the El Paso massacre allegedly wrote a white nationalist manifesto warning of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” rhetoric Democrats say is directly connected to the president’s deeply anti-immigrant agenda. 

In his tweets Monday morning, the president did not specify what kind of reforms on guns or immigration he supported. He similarly endorsed a move for tougher gun laws, including strengthening background checks, after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Months later, Trump reversed himself when he headlined the National Rifle Association’s annual convention and promised not to tighten gun restrictions. 

After House Democrats passed a bill to strengthen gun background checks earlier this year, Trump vowed to veto the legislation.

In the face of fierce criticism for fueling violence around the country, Trump on Monday accused the media of fomenting “anger and rage.”

Trump is set to address the shootings in a press conference later this morning.

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