Trump calls for gun background checks after mass shootings

Trump believes that media was responsible for the scourge of mass shootings and the anger and rage that has built up over many years.

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday called on lawmakers to pass legislation requiring strong background checks for gun users following two mass shooting over the weekend that killed 29 people.

Trump, who is scheduled to address the nation following the shootings in Texas and Ohio, said that victims' deaths could not be "in vain" and called on both Republicans and Democrats to take steps to require further screenings for gun buyers.

He tweeted, "Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not great, come out of these two tragic events."

On Saturday, a gunman killed 20 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, in what officials believed to be a racially-motivated hate crime.

Later, another gunman in Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people. Dozens were also wounded in both shootings.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who is also seeking her party's 2020 presidential nomination, said that it was "absurd" for Trump to link immigration and gun violence together.