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Uvalde parents and activists rally in Austin to demand age increase for AR-15 sales

Sharwin Khot holding a sign stating, "Protect our kids not gun" during the rally in Austin to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.
Patricia Lim
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KUT
Sharwin Khot holding a sign stating, "Protect our kids not gun" during the rally in Austin to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.

Updated August 27, 2022 at 2:55 PM ET

A small group of parents and family members who lost loved ones in the Uvalde school shooting joined gun safety advocates outside the Texas governor's mansion in Austin early Saturday, pleading for Gov. Greg Abbott to move to raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style rifles.

With schools across Texas having already welcomed students back into the classroom, gun safety advocates are calling for the governor to hold a special legislative session so state lawmakers can vote on whether to raise the minimum age for purchasing AR-15-style rifles from 18 to 21. The governor has repeatedly said he would not do so.

Approximately 20 people gathered outside the governor's mansion in Austin early Saturday morning. The small crowd was made up primarily of families who lost loved ones at the mass shooting in Uvalde. They pleaded that the governor raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style rifles.
Kailey Hunt / KUT
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KUT
Approximately 20 people gathered outside the governor's mansion in Austin early Saturday morning. The small crowd was made up primarily of families who lost loved ones at the mass shooting in Uvalde. They pleaded that the governor raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style rifles.
About a dozen family members of the slain students and teachers joined leaders from the youth-led gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
About a dozen family members of the slain students and teachers joined leaders from the youth-led gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives.

An AR-15-style rifle was used to kill 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in May.

About a dozen family members of the slain students and teachers joined leaders from the youth-led gun control advocacy group March for Our Lives, which organized the gathering as well as a rally later that morning. They played the sounds of children outside the governor's home while some parents delivered personal messages through a megaphone.

Maggie Mireles, sister of a victim of the Uvalde shooting demanding for an age increase for AR-15 sales at the Texas Capitol.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Maggie Mireles, sister of a victim of the Uvalde shooting demanding for an age increase for AR-15 sales at the Texas Capitol.
Sophia Zamarripa holding a sign saying, "Uvalde strong like Eva!" Coming from a family of teachers, Zamarripa believes that demanding for an age increase for AR-15 sales is the first step to helping the kids in the classroom.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Sophia Zamarripa holding a sign saying, "Uvalde strong like Eva!" Coming from a family of teachers, Zamarripa believes that demanding for an age increase for AR-15 sales is the first step to helping the kids in the classroom.

"You do not give a damn, you care more about our guns than you do our children," Brett Cross said. Cross was the uncle and legal guardian of Uziyah Garcia, one of the students killed in May. "You couldn't even tell us their damn names. I asked you, you said you couldn't say [them] off the top of your head. We remember them, and we are going to make damn well sure that you do to."

A larger crowd gathered at the Texas State Capitol later Saturday morning to demand that Abbott act to prevent further loss of life in the state.

A poem for Amerie Jo Garza, victim of the Uvalde shooting being give by her parents during the rally in Austin to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
A poem for Amerie Jo Garza, victim of the Uvalde shooting being give by her parents during the rally in Austin to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.
Parents, families and friends of the Uvalde school shooting victims joined March for Our Lives and survivors of other school shooting in front of the Texas Capitol to demand age increase for Ar-15 sales.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Parents, families and friends of the Uvalde school shooting victims joined March for Our Lives and survivors of other school shooting in front of the Texas Capitol to demand age increase for Ar-15 sales.
Uvalde parents, families, and friends gathered together in front of the Texas Capitol.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Uvalde parents, families, and friends gathered together in front of the Texas Capitol.

"We're here to drive home the message that we are living on borrowed time, and more kids will die if we don't take action like raising the age to purchase an AR-15 to 21," March for Our Lives spokesperson Noah Lumbantobing told NPR earlier in the week.

Abbott announced this month that the Texas Department of Public Safety would dispatch more than 30 law enforcement officers — at the request of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District — to Uvalde for the new school year. However, when March for Our Lives and the parents asked the governor about enacting stricter gun laws, he said it wouldn't happen, Lumbantobing said.

Ana Rodriguez, 35, is one of those parents. She spoke to the crowd on Saturday about her daughter, Maite Rodriguez, who was one of the students shot and killed on May 24.

Maite Rodriguez, 10, was one of 19 schoolchildren who were killed by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. Her mother, Ana Rodriguez, will speak at a rally in Austin on Saturday to demand that Gov. Greg Abbott hold a special session so state lawmakers can decide on the minimum age at which people can purchase AR-15-style rifles.
/ Ana Rodriguez
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Ana Rodriguez
Maite Rodriguez, 10, was one of 19 schoolchildren who were killed by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. Her mother, Ana Rodriguez, spoke at a rally in Austin on Saturday to demand that Gov. Greg Abbott hold a special session so state lawmakers can decide on the minimum age at which people can purchase AR-15-style rifles.

"I want to be able to speak about her but also talk about how her life was so meaninglessly taken by this 18-year-old kid who was able to purchase these weapons of war and ammunition, and how I am demanding that the age go up in a special session," Rodriguez told NPR before the rally. "I'm not going to ask — I'm going to demand."

She says raising the minimum age for buying an AR-15-style rifle just makes sense. An 18-year-old is still a child, she said. Though 18-year-olds are considered adults in the eyes of the law, their brains aren't fully developed. She believes 21 is still too young, but it's better than 18.

Protestor holding a sign during the rally in the Texas Capitol to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Protestor holding a sign during the rally in the Texas Capitol to demand age increase for AR-15 sales.

"The fact that an 18-year-old mentally unstable child was able to purchase what he purchased legally and do what he did to our children is mind-boggling," Rodriguez said. "If I could have it my way, I would have [AR-15-style rifles] banned, but I don't think that'll happen. So I think 21 or 25 is the minimum they could do."

Lumbantobing said he has found that Texans support responsible gun ownership, including some restrictions. He thinks multiple mass shootings in the state have changed the minds of many gun owners who were previously against stricter gun laws.

"It's hit close to home for a lot of Texans, as it has in the past. And for Texans, these are children's lives we are talking about," Lumbantobing said. "It's hard to imagine that being your child shot in first or second period. It's moved people emotionally to want this sort of change."

The Uvalde school district voted on Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the police chief in charge of the response to the shooting. The families of the slain children and teachers had been calling since late May for his termination, one of many steps taken since the shooting.

This summer, the governor ordered state school safety officials to take precautionary measures to ensure student safety. Abbott laid out his directions in a letter, which mentioned steps such as safety trainings for school staff and access-point assessments of school buildings.

But Lumbantobing said hardening schools won't keep students safe, citing law enforcement officers on-site at schools previously targeted by shooters. He believes that increasing the minimum age for purchasing AR-15-style weapons will ultimately save lives and that the power to bring the proposal to the people lies with Abbott alone.

Parents and cousin of Eliahna Torres posing for a photo after the rally to demand for age increase in buying an AR-15.
Patricia Lim / KUT
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KUT
Parents and cousin of Eliahna Torres posing for a photo after the rally to demand for age increase in buying an AR-15.
Uvalde parents, families, and friends are pleading that the governor raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style riflies.
Patricia Lim / KUT
/
KUT
Uvalde parents, families, and friends are pleading that the governor raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style riflies.

Rodriguez bought bulletproof backpacks for her surviving children, 11 and 15, for this school year. And the school has implemented a handful of other security measures to try to keep students safe. But she's worried that attempts to make schools safer will make them seem more like prisons.

Abbott has argued that mental health is at the core of America's gun violence epidemic, not firearms themselves. Rodriguez says mental health is part of the problem but that refusing to acknowledge that guns play a part as well is ridiculous.

She hopes people will listen to her voice, including the governor, who she is demanding put the issue to a vote.

"Three months ago, it was my child," Rodriguez said. "Tomorrow it could be yours."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Dustin Jones
Dustin Jones is a reporter for NPR's digital news desk. He mainly covers breaking news, but enjoys working on long-form narrative pieces.
Kailey Hunt