UVALDE, Texas — Families of victims of Uvalde along with Texas Democrats urged action on gun laws in a press conference Wednesday morning.
Gun policies along with the response of the Texas attorney general and Gov. Abbott were discussed.
At the press conference, Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher at Robb Elementary, reflected on how the shooter was inside of the school for 77 minutes on May 24 and how some of his students died on the way to the hospital.
"I promised her that day I was going to fight. For her, her friends and future generations," Jacinto Cazares said. He is the father of Jackie Cazares who lost her life in the shooting. "Why would you allow mentally challenged people access to guns?"
"Raising the age limit to purchase an assault weapon needs to be changed immediately," said Berlinda Arreola, Grandmother of Amerie Jo Garza.
"I am constantly reliving that day through every waking moment," Felisha Martinez said in reflecting the shooting. She also said Gov. Abbott has not done anything to own up for the shooting. She said mental health care and lax gun laws are the recipe for disaster. She said we are at a critical point in our history and calls for 'real leadership'.
"I encourage my fellow Texans to gout and vote, we have a powerful weapon," Martinez added.
At a recent debate in the race for governor, Greg Abbott reiterated that he opposed the change the age to buy an assault weapon “purely from a legal position” and said other states that had passed such laws — like Florida — would have to deal with legal battles. Abbott also said he was opposed to red flag laws because they would deny “lawful Texas gun owners their constitutional right to due process.”
Here's the full list of speakers at the conference:
- Kimberly Rubio, Mother of Alexandria (Lexi) Aniyah Rubio
- Arnulfo Reyes, Teacher at Robb Elementary
- Jacinto Cazares and Gloria Cazares, Parents of Jacklyn (Jackie) Cazares
- Jessie Rizo Jr., Uncle of Jacklyn (Jackie) Cazares
- Berlinda Arreola, Grandmother of Amerie Jo Garza
- Velma Lisa Duran and Marissa Lozano, Sisters to Irma Garcia
- Felisha Martinez, Mother of Xavier Lopez
- Christopher Salinas, Parent of surviving Robb Elementary child
- Cassandra Martinez, Parent of surviving Robb Elementary child
- State Senator Roland Gutierrez
- State Representative Tracy King
- Ronald Garza, Uvalde County Commissioner, Precinct 4
- Mike Collier, Democratic Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
- John Lira, Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress (TX-23)
- State Representative Vikki Goodwin
- State Representative Christina Morales
- State Representative Penny Morales Shaw
- State Representative Carl O. Sherman
