Lawmakers across the country react to El Paso shootings

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nexstar) — Lawmakers from across the country are weighing in on the tragic shooting at a Texas Walmart on Saturday, which resulted in the killing of at least 22 people and injuring more than two dozen.

El Paso Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar says her hometown is heartbroken.

“All of this has happened because Hispanic people have been dehumanized,” said Escobar. “They have been dehumanized by the President, by his enablers.”

Meanwhile former El Paso Congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke suspended his campaign to fly home. O’Rourke says the President and Congress need to take action and, in part, take ownership, saying: “President Trump bears responsibility in part for what happened.”

O’Rourke says the U.S. needs universal background checks, closing of gun law loopholes, the end of assault weapon sales, and the passage of Red Flag Laws.

Trump wants a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to pass Red Flag Laws, which allow family and friends to flag authorities about someone they believe is mentally unstable or violent and who should not buy a gun. He has also called for the death penalty for anyone who commits “hate crimes or mass murders,” which Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn says is a good idea.

Cornyn says Congress needs to address gun violence, but he says gun control legislation is not the solution.