'What will it take?': Dayton, El Paso shootings renew Hollywood calls for gun control

Rihanna, Chris Evans and Reese Witherspoon are among the Hollywood stars renewing calls for gun control following two mass shootings in the U.S. within 24 hours.

"When will our U.S. representatives give the people of this country the common sense gun laws we are all demanding?" Witherspoon tweeted Sunday. "I'm calling my congressman. Again." 

Nine people were killed and dozens of others were injured when a gunman opened fire in a popular nightlife area in Dayton, Ohio, around 1 a.m. Sunday. Just hours before, a man opened fire in a crowded El Paso, Texas, shopping area, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured.

"Imagine a world where it's easier to get an AK-47 than a visa," Rihanna posted to her nearly 74 million Instagram followers. "Imagine a world where they build a wall to keep terrorists in America!!! My prayers and deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims from Texas, California, and Ohio!"

Domestic terrorism

The Texas and Ohio shootings come less than a week after a 19-year-old gunman killed three people and injured 13 others at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.

The superstar wrote her message in a caption alongside a screengrab of a tweet from Donald Trump. She said the U.S. president, who referred to the Texas shooting as "an act of cowardice," neglected to call it terrorism.

The Texas shooting is being handled as a domestic terrorism case, according to U.S. authorities. 

"We now have mass shootings happening with such frequency that the president can write a two-for-one tweet," Captain America's Chris Evans wrote. "#EnoughIsEnough."

Emotions compounded

The back-to-back shootings compounded emotions in a nation where it appears no community is immune from random gun violence.

"What will it take?" Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander posted on Twitter Sunday. "Honestly, what will it take? #ElPaso #Dayton."

Police say the Ohio shooter used a .223-calibre "high-capacity" rifle and wore body armour. He was killed by officers.

"Why do we allow civilians to purchase assault weapons?" Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham said Saturday. "What do we expect they'll be used for besides the heartbreakingly obvious?"

At the same time, renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson posted that many more people die on average in 48 hours due to other causes such as "medical errors," "the flu," "suicide" and "car accidents."

He was accused by some of having a lack of empathy.

"Way to downplay domestic terrorism," said one user.

"Such an insanely tone-deaf, hurtful thing for him to come up with at this moment," said another.