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Pelosi, Schumer, other Dems call for stricter gun laws after Texas mass shooting

Sunday, 01 September 2019 5:27 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 01 September 2019 5:27 AM ]

Police cars and tape block off a crime scene outside the Cinergy Odessa movie theater where a gunman was shot and killed on August 31, 2019 in Midland, Texas. (AFP photo)

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 a mass shooting on Saturday in Texas.

The shooting, which happened in the western city of Midland, reportedly left at least five people killed and more than 21 others injured.

A gunman opened fire, shooting randomly at bystanders at a Home Depot department store before moving on to a Movie theater in neighboring city of Odessa, where he was shot and killed by police.

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.

Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, & everyone injured in the shooting in Odessa & Midland, TX.

Thank you to the first responders who risked their lives to stop the threat.@senatemajldr should bring up H.R. 8 the week Congress returns. We must #endgunviolence.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 1, 2019

Pelosi also said that McConnell should end Senate GOP "obstruction."

Enough is enough. Every day, the gun violence epidemic inflicts a devastating toll in communities across America, this time
in West Texas. The @SenateGOP must end its obstruction & finally pass House-approved legislation to #EndGunViolence. https://t.co/RcoVI6Eebm
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 1, 2019

Meanwhile, several presidential contenders from the Democratic Party condemned the shooting.

"We do know that this is f-cked up. We know that this has to stop in our country," Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D) said at a campaign stop in Virginia.

Former Vice President Joe Biden also tweeted that “we must end this epidemic.”

I’m heartbroken, sickened, & angry. Weeks after the horror in El Paso, another community in Texas has been terrorized by gun violence. Enough. We must end this epidemic.@DrBiden & I send our thoughts to those affected & thank our law enforcement who responded at great risk.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2019

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Twitter called on Congress to take action to stop gun violence.

"We've already lost far too many to gun violence—Congress must act now."

It is not yet clear what motivated the carnage and whether the incident was racially motivated as was the case in a massacre a month earlier the Texas city of El Paso, where a white young male targeted mostly native Mexican residents, killing 22 and wounding nearly 30 more.

PressTV-20 shot dead in El Paso in possible ‘hate crime’: Police

Texas authorities are investigating the Saturday mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso as a possible "hate crime".

Meanwhile, in another shooting in Alabama, a 17-year-old reportedly shot 10 teenagers – ranging in age from 15 to 18 -- following a high school football game in the city of Mobile.

The shooting victims were taken to a local hospital Saturday morning as Mobile Police Department spokesman Laderrick Dubose identified the teenage shooter as Deangelo Parnell, further declaring that there were no fatalities as the result of the incident.

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