West Texas mass shooting reignites gun control debate | TheHill

A mass shooting in West Texas on Saturday reenergized a push by Democrats for tighter restrictions on guns on Sunday even as President TrumpDonald John TrumpThe dark side of progress: We're ignoring the most potent threat to working-class Americans West Texas mass shooting reignites gun control debate Trump says West Texas shooting 'hasn't changed anything' in ongoing gun talks MORE said the deadly rampage, which killed at least seven in the cities of Odessa and Midland, “hasn’t really changed anything.”Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), a 2020 presidential hopeful who became one of his party's loudest and most sustained voices on the issue after a mass shooting killed 22 in his home town of El Paso, Texas, last month, made the rounds again on the Sunday morning talk shows to reiterate his support for stronger gun control measures and his frustration with what he saw as a lack of action."The rhetoric we’ve used, the 'thoughts and prayers' … have done nothing to stop the epidemic of gun violence," O’Rourke said on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday, adding, "This is f---ed up."O’Rourke has published proposals calling for a ban on assault rifles and mandatory buyback and licensing programs as well as universal background checks and "red flag" laws."The challenge is so grave, the threat is so grave, that we can’t meet it with half-measures or only half the country," he said.Fellow Texan and presidential candidate Julián Castro, a former Housing and Urban Development secretary, said on NBC’s "Meet the Press" that many gun owners would be on board with some reforms."Oftentimes it's actually hunters and folks that shoot on a range that understand that you don't need these weapons of war, the AR-15 and other similar weapons.