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The dad and mom of a kid who was killed within the Uvalde college capturing met with Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday and requested him to help a federal ban on semi-automatic weapons.
The senator declined and as an alternative prompt growing regulation enforcement presence on college campuses.
Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed within the capturing, recounted the assembly to The Texas Tribune and on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. Felix Rubio, Lexi’s father, offered Cruz an image of his daughter “in her child-size casket” whereas asking for a federal semi-automatic weapon ban, Mata-Rubio wrote. A complete of 19 college students and two lecturers have been killed within the bloodbath — the worst college capturing in Texas historical past.
Mata-Rubio mentioned she didn’t anticipate Cruz to help gun management laws earlier than assembly with him and he or she didn’t assume the Texas senator would change his thoughts.
“We had the assembly as a result of I needed to listen to what he needed to say. I needed him to say it to my face,” Mata-Rubio mentioned.
Mata-Rubio mentioned the assembly with the junior Texas senator couldn’t have lasted greater than 5 minutes, throughout which Cruz provided his different plan to enhance college security: extra funding for college useful resource officers and psychological well being professionals. However she mentioned her husband, Rubio, defined that extra regulation enforcement officers in faculties doesn’t assure college students will probably be protected, pointing to the 2018 capturing in Parkland, Florida, the place a faculty useful resource officer was on the scene when the shooter arrived and killed 17 individuals.
The police response to the capturing at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary has been closely criticized. A whole bunch of regulation enforcement officers descended on the college. However responders waited greater than an hour to confront the gunman, which contradicts regulation enforcement doctrine that directs officers to instantly confront energetic shooters.
The assembly with Cruz was certainly one of a number of conversations Mata-Rubio and Rubio had with political leaders on Wednesday. They have been joined by members of the family of victims of different college shootings. The conferences have been organized by the Newtown Motion Alliance Basis, a gun violence advocacy group. Along with the assembly with Cruz, Mata-Rubio spoke with representatives of different Republican senators about gun management laws, together with the workplaces of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Invoice Cassidy, R-La.
“Whereas they clearly, in all probability don’t help the invoice, they only had extra questions and have been extra sympathetic than our assembly with Ted Cruz,” Mata-Rubio mentioned. “That was actually disheartening as a result of that is our consultant.”
Mata-Rubio and Rubio testified earlier than the Home Oversight Committee in June throughout a listening to on gun violence, the place Mata-Rubio referred to as for a ban on semi-automatic rifles, elevating the minimal buying age, “purple flag” legal guidelines, stronger background checks and an finish to gun producers’ legal responsibility immunity.
Mata-Rubio is a journalist for the Uvalde Chief-Information, and Rubio is a patrol deputy with the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Cruz’s preliminary response to the capturing received rapid blowback, with critics calling his prayers empty with out substantive gun laws to match.
Together with Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Cruz launched a invoice to extend funding for college useful resource officers and psychological well being professionals in faculties to safe towards shootings, however Democrats blocked the invoice from heading to a vote, criticizing laws that beefs up college safety with out efficient gun management. He additionally voted towards a landmark gun security regulation authored by his Texas colleague Sen. John Cornyn in response to the Uvalde capturing.
“At present, Sen. Cruz met with [Rubio and Mata-Rubio] and he noticed firsthand the ache and grief that the unspeakable violence at Robb Elementary college brought on,” a spokesperson for Cruz wrote. “After assembly with them, Sen. Cruz went to the Senate flooring to combat for his college security laws. Sadly, Senate Democrats blocked it with no clarification of why they don’t help doubling the variety of cops in faculties, hiring 15,000 school-based psychological well being professionals, and growing the bodily safety for kids in faculties.”
In chatting with elected officers in Washington, surrounded by survivors of different mass shootings, Mata-Rubio mentioned she believed there’s enough momentum to attain actionable gun management. Cornyn’s gun security regulation, handed one month after the capturing at her daughter’s elementary college, was the primary main laws on gun security since 1994.
“There’s lives at stake. It’s too late for us, however we’re preventing for different households, for different youngsters,” Mata-Rubio mentioned.
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