ST. ALBANS, Vt. — In the wake of two deadly mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, this month, Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday dodged questions about whether he would support new gun control measures, but said the racism underlying the violence needs to be addressed.

In response to the shootings, which together left 31 victims dead, Scott said that the nation has a “responsibility to do better” in fighting racism.

“The positive news in some respects is that racism is learned behavior, it’s not part of our DNA,” Scott told reporters Thursday at a press conference in St. Albans that was part of a ceremonial clean water bill signing. “We again have a responsibility to do better in that regard.”

Authorities have tied the alleged shooter in El Paso, Patrick Crusius, to a manifesto in which he expresses white supremacist views, and warns of an “invasion” of Latino immigrants.

In the manifesto, Crusius, who allegedly killed 22 people at a Walmart on Aug. 3, wrote he was “simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”

The motive of the alleged shooter in Dayton, Connor Betts, who was killed by police, has yet to be determined. But racist ideology has been linked to many deadly shootings in the U.S. in recent years.

The recent shootings also have sparked renewed calls for gun control measures across the nation.

Scott said while he believed the federal background check system needs to be improved, he suggested he would not be inclined to support additional firearms restrictions after the state enacted broad restrictions last year.

The governor, a Republican, broke with his party and his own long-standing opposition to gun control in April 2018 when he signed legislation that expanded background checks to private sales, raised the age to purchase a firearm to 21, banned bump stocks and limited magazine size for handguns and rifles.

Scott’s pivot on gun control came after police arrested a teenager who allegedly threatened a mass shooting at a high school Fair Haven.

“I think we’ve done a lot here in terms of gun control measures, we took that step,” he said Thursday.

“Again we need to take other steps, mental health issues are important to identify, reestablishing working on the NICS,” Scott said, referring to the federal background check system for gun purchases.

But the governor did not entirely rule out new gun control measures and suggested he might be open to supporting parts of a gun control bill he vetoed earlier this year.

That bill would have established a 24-hour waiting period for handgun purchases — a measure which gun control activists and Democratic backers say can help prevent suicides. But it also contained other provisions including addressing what is known as the “Charleston loophole.”

That loophole allows those seeking to buy firearms to receive some weapons before their background checks are completed.

The loophole was what let the shooter in the deadly church shooting in 2015 in Charleston, S.C., obtain a weapon. After his background check took longer than three days, he was able to take possession of his firearm, even though the FBI hadn’t cleared him for the purchase.

Speaking to reporters at the bill-signing Thursday, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said she would be interested in once again taking up legislation to close the loophole.

“I’m willing to continue to have the conversation about how we can strengthen the background checks, how we can close that Charleston loophole to make sure it’s only people who pass background checks that have access to firearms,” Johnson told reporters.

Scott said he, too, would be open to reviewing the legislation again.

“There were certain aspects of the bill, that being one, that made some sense,” Scott said, referencing the loophole. “But from my standpoint the emphasis of the bill was on the 24-hour waiting period for handguns.”

Scott vetoed the legislation because he did not believe there was adequate data to show that waiting periods for firearms purchases reduce suicide rates.

Democrats have yet to decide whether they will attempt to override the veto, Johnson said. But she said it would be difficult to gain the support in the House to do so.