Mass Shootings: Calls for gun reform, two cities prepare for Trump's visit

The white crosses, prayer circles, and piles of flowers at memorials in El Paso and Dayton have brought the nation face-to-face once again with the photos of innocent victims killed in the latest two mass shootings.

Among the victims, are a mother and father who were gunned down at the Walmart in El Paso Saturday. They were killed while shielding their baby, now alive but without parents.

Another victim, spoke from a hospital about being shot in the foot, haunted by the sight of the gunman killing his 15-year-old nephew Javier Rodriguez, the youngest of the victims.

"It was...horrible image, and I hope nobody ever goes through it," said Octavio Ramiro Lizarde.

The weekend's mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton added 31 victims to the national toll, from other mass shootings in cities such as Newtown, Orlando, Parkland, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and Gilroy.

At a Dayton vigil, following Sunday's shooting that killed 9 and wounded more than 30, the crowd called for action shouting "Do something, do something." 

That chant was repeated Tuesday at a news conference with Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who acknowledged the message.

"Some chanted, 'Do something.'  And they were absolutely right.  We must do something," said Governor DeWine, who announced 17 proposals for strengthening Ohio's gun laws and increasing support for mental health initiatives.

The FBI has opened an investigation into the Dayton shooter. Officials say the 24-year-old had shown signs of violence before the attack. 

"The individual had a history of obsession with violent ideations to include mass shootings, and had expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting," said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.

"He said he had hallucinations, voices in his head that scared him," said Lyndsi Doll, who says she knew the gunman.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have "red flag" or "extreme risk protection orders" which seek to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a danger to their own or others' safety.

"They're modeled after domestic violence restraining orders and they provide a process for a person or law enforcement to go to court and request a restraining order that would remove a gun from a person who is in a crisis," said Laura Cutilletta, Managing Director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Cutilletta said the "red flag" laws also prevent someone from buying a new firearm.

Even the NRA posted a statement saying, "It has been the NRA’s long-standing position that those who have been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms."

Some gun control advocates, however, say that is not enough and point to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who has not acted on House bills seeking greater restrictions on guns, including expanded background checks. 
 
Currently 21 states and the District of Columbia have background check laws.

Others want the federal government to bring back its former ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

"Just like with traffic fatalities, we would never say we should have a stoplight law, but we shouldn't have a seatbelt law. Of course there are many approaches, and we need all of them.  
We can't rely on just one law," said Cutilletta.