Lawmakers, presidential candidates respond to Texas shooting

Following Saturday's mass shooting which resulted in at least seven deaths and several other injuries in the surrounding area of Midland and Odessa, Texas, the death toll from mass shootings in the United States has surpassed 50 in August alone. Lawmakers, Trump administration officials, and presidential candidates responded to the latest manifestation of violence in the country over the weekend.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Sunday on ABC's This Week that in the U.S.'s counterterrorism strategy "domestic terrorism has a taken a frontline focus."

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who presided as Florida's governor when a mass shooting took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, said he's "hopeful" Congress will pass gun reform measures when it reconvenes this month. Scott noted that after the Parkland shooting, Florida passed red flag laws that allow a court to remove firearms from a person who may be a danger to themselves or others. The senator stopped short of saying he supports a universal background check, however.

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Meanwhile, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who suspended his Democratic presidential campaign to return to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, following a mass shooting that occurred there earlier in August, offered his condolences to the people of Midland and Odessa. So did O'Rourke's fellow Texan, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, another Democratic presidential candidate, and Texas Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Read more responses from political figures at Politico.