Christine Granados
Arnulfo Reyes, a fourth-grade teacher shot at Robb Elementary, told the audience, ‘We were neglected by police officers, DPS, Border Patrol for 77 minutes. Seventy-seven minutes was too long.’
Uvalde resident and State Rep. Tracy O. King of District 80, whose children attended Robb Elementary School in the past, said at a press conference on Wednesday that lawmakers need to raise the age to purchase AR platform weapons from 18 to 21.
“Now, I haven’t always felt that way,” King said about gun control. “That was before May 24. A law that would require a young adult to wait until they were 21 would have made a difference in this particular situation, so I support that law wholeheartedly,” King said. “I appreciate these families putting that out there because as I said earlier they could be asking for so much more.”
King’s comments came Wednesday, Oct. 5, during a press conference held at the Willie de Leon Civic Center, where other Uvalde parents and shooting victims’ relatives had strong words for the politicians who they said have done nothing in regard to gun control.
“So here we are 19 weeks since our lives were completely destroyed by gun violence and not a single effort has been made by our current governor to prevent this from ever happening again,” said Marissa Lozano, sister of Irma Garcia, who died in the May 24 shooting. “Greg Abbott has refused to take action and has declined to even consider our valid concerns on sensible gun laws.
“So now the hometown of former Vice President (John Nance) Garner will forever be historically known to the world (as a place that had) one of the worst mass shootings.”
Nine Democratic office holders and candidates spoke before the press conference to people who lost family members in the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary. The politicians also spoke during the press conference in a room filled with Uvalde residents, other Texans and national, state and local media.
The 14 Uvalde residents who spoke advocated for raising the purchasing age for AR-15s from 18 to 21, implementing universal background checks and enacting red-flag laws to empower officers to take weapons from people deemed a danger to the community.
They were: Lozano, Kimberly Mata-Rubio, Arnulfo Reyes, Jacinto Cazares, Jessie Rizo Jr., Berlinda Arreola, Felisha Martinez, Daniel Myers, Christopher Salinas, Cassandra Chavez, Veronica Mata, Gladys Gonzales, Jaclyn Gonzales and Hector Gonzales.
Christina Delgado, who traveled five hours from Santa Fe, Texas, to offer support and solidarity to the families in Uvalde, said she relived the Santa Fe mass shooting of May 18, 2018, when she read about the Uvalde community.
Christine Granados
Veronica Mata said she asked Gov. Greg Abbott to raise the age limit for buying assault rifle from 18- to 21. “He said, ‘we cannot do that and need to focus on mental health.’ As a mother being told that this is not possible is telling me that people in charge don’t seem to care about our children dying.”
“Four years and four months ago, we were given promises (by legislators) that we were the first and we were going to be the last. That policies were going to be put into place, so that no other community would join Santa Fe, yet here we are,” Delgado said as she wiped away tears. “It’s unfortunate that we have to take another community under our wing to help guide them through the trauma that they have needlessly been forced into. A grief that has been forced upon them because our legislators failed to act, our government failed.”
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (Dist. 19) said the parents of the shooting victims invited the Democratic Party to Uvalde and the party organized the event.
“We are now five massacres in, and we have no changes in the law. On guns, we’ve allowed an 18 year old to have access to militarized weaponry,” Gutierrez said. “We have a governor that said he was going to change that five massacres ago and never did. What the people in power have done is expand access to militarized weaponry.”
Christopher Salinas, whose 10-year-old son Samuel Salinas survived the shooting in Room 112 by playing dead and bears scars from bullet shrapnel, said he joined the press conference to “declare war against guns” and to help protect his four children.
“It’s a shame what we have become as nation, where Americans witness other countries in rebellion with no control, and I witnessed my own country becoming the same,” Salinas said. “What makes us different is when we stand together and make changes to show the world what we are and who we are as human beings.”
Christine Granados
Ronald Garza mentioned late Civil Rights Leaders Cesar Chavez and John Lewis during his speech on Wednesday. He said, ‘They laid the groundwork for us, myself and all of us here. We have to go out and vote.’
Christine Granados
Counselor Jaclyn Gonzales said, ‘I pray that you find your conviction to fight for what’s right, to go vote and make a change and give our children a chance to live,’ while her husband Hector Gonzales, Southwest Texas Junior College president, stands behind her ready to speak at the press conference on Wednesday.
Christine Granados
Felicha Martinez, mother of Xavier Lopez, who died on May 24, said, ‘I’m here today to be a voice for my child who was only 10 and should be here today with his brothers and sisters and myself. We need to be better. We need to get laws changed.’
