Trump says filming in West Texas "has not changed anything" in ongoing gun discussions

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump and the crisis in Hong Kong Warren, Sanders are arguing to become the main alternative to biden Hurricane Dorian is changing lanes towards Georgia, Carolines MORE said Sunday that he was still talking to Congress about measures to stem the gun violence, but that Saturday's shooting in west Texas, killing seven, "has not changed anything. ".

Trump also claimed that tighter background checks would not have stopped mass shootings in recent years.

"We are looking at the same things," Trump told the press when he returned from a weekend break at Camp David. "It really did not change anything."

"Many people are talking about it, regardless of what happened yesterday in Texas," Trump said of gun reform measures.

Trump said he was talking with lawmakers and had raised background checks, but he said "they would not have stopped" mass shootings in the last few years. He also reiterated that he thought that gun violence was a mental health problem.

"We are looking at a lot of different things. We look at a lot of different bills. Ideas, concepts. This has been going on for a long time, "Trump told reporters.

"Background Check – I will say that for the most part, unfortunately, if you look at the last four or five, even going back five, six, or seven years – for the most part, as hard as you do your background check, they're not going to be there. "It would be a big problem, it's a mental problem, it's a big problem," said Trump.

Authorities said the armed man, who has not yet been identified, was shot dead after launching a shooting Saturday afternoon, killing seven people and injuring more than 20 others. The shooter began to run wild at a roadside check and crossed the city of Odessa, firing people from his vehicle.

Trump called the shooter "very sick person" and congratulated Texas Governor Greg Abbott and state law enforcement for their reaction to the shooting.

"It's tragic, but they did an incredible job under the circumstances, another very sick person, so I'd like to thank everyone involved, and always, you say, as bad as it may have been, could have been to be worse, but it was certainly very, very sad, "Trump told the press.

Trump appeared to be hesitant about his support for background checks as a result of two separate mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and in Dayton, Ohio, in a 24-hour period in August that left more 30 dead.

After these shootings, Trump said he would support tighter background checks, then assert that the US already has "very thorough background checks" and reiterate a joint discussion point with the National Rifle Association (NRA) warning of a "slippery slope" of promulgation gun reform legislation.

"I have an appetite for background checks," Trump told reporters on Aug. 21. "We have a lot of background checks right now."

Trump said it was important for lawmakers to correct the "weak" areas of the current system and emphasized that he believed that gun violence was a mental health problem.

Trump has denied reports that he spoke to ANR chief Wayne LaPierre last month and told him that universal background checks were ubiquitous.

Trump returned from Camp David on Saturday to attend a briefing on Hurricane Dorian at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington.