Parents of Uvalde victim vow to be daughter’s voice in fight for tighter Texas gun laws

Veronica Mata’s lifestyles modified perpetually when her daughter Tess was once shot and killed at her Uvalde study room. Since that tragedy, Veronica has turn into a fierce suggest for gun protection, steadily attending press meetings on the Texas Capitol and sharing her tale with legislators in hopes of passing stricter gun laws.

Despite her efforts, the GOP-led Legislature didn’t move any new gun laws, leaving Veronica and different grieving households disillusioned. However, they nonetheless see development and feature religion that adjust will sooner or later come. Two Republicans helped transfer a invoice to lift the minimal age to personal an AR-style rifle via a House committee, and lawmakers who constitute Uvalde say they’ll record gun keep watch over expenses once more subsequent consultation.

For Veronica and her husband Jerry, this new position as lobbyists for gun protection is a some distance cry from their earlier disinterest in politics. But they’re dedicated to creating a distinction, no longer simply for their daughter however for the longer term of all youngsters.

Their best precedence is prohibiting other folks beneath 21 from proudly owning an AR-style rifle, which they consider would have avoided their daughter’s shooter from acquiring the weapon used to kill her. While this regulation didn’t move, a couple of different gun restrictions are nonetheless shifting throughout the Legislature.

Gun protection advocates face demanding situations in Texas, the place many Republican lawmakers worry dropping their seats in primaries over supporting gun keep watch over. But Veronica and the opposite Uvalde households stay decided to fight for exchange, even though it manner taking unpaid depart from paintings and spending numerous hours on the Capitol.

Veronica and Jerry elevate items of Tess with them far and wide they cross, from dressed in her picture on a poster to wearing a rainbow hair tie on their wrists. They would possibly not have noticed the legislative adjustments they was hoping for but, however they’ll proceed to fight till they do.