2020 Democrats re-up calls for new gun legislation after shootings

Enough. That was the refrain among 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls on Saturday following the news of a mass shooting in El Paso that resulted in at least 20 deaths. Several of the comments were made before a second mass shooting claimed at least nine lives in Dayton early Sunday.

Most of the candidates were gathered in Nevada to address the country's largest public employees union, but the conversation quickly turned to the harrowing events in El Paso. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) put Republican Senate leadership and the National Rifle Association on blast, respectively, for holding up any legislation that would alter gun laws. Former Vice President Joe Biden called America's mass shootings "a sickness," while Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said that, if elected, she would issue an executive order within her first 100 days in office to impose gun control.

Perhaps no candidate was as deeply affected by the shooting as former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who hails from El Paso. O'Rourke reportedly appeared visibly shaken while addressing the union in Nevada and later suspended campaigning to fly back to El Paso. "I believe in this country," he said. "I believe, at the end of the day, we're going to be able to get this done, but it's going to be because of those people who force it to get done."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) added her voice to the call for change, alluding to both shootings.

President Trump offered condolences to the people of El Paso and Dayton, calling the first incident "an act of cowardice," before condemning it. The president did not mention anything about gun legislation. Read more at The Associated Press.