In overnight testimony, Uvalde victims’ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns (Texas Tribune)

In overnight testimony, Uvalde victims’ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns – By Alejandro Serrano (Texas Tribune) / April 19 2023

The families of Uvalde shooting victims waited hours to testify at a House committee hearing in support of House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.

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By the time Kimberly Mata-Rubio sat down in front of Texas lawmakers Tuesday night, 13 hours had passed since she arrived at the Capitol.

Mata-Rubio told legislators the wait to testify for a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles reminded her of May 24, when hours agonizingly stretched by before she and her husband learned their daughter Lexi was among 19 children and two teachers killed in the worst school shooting in Texas history.

Ever since, Mata-Rubio said her mind loops through different scenarios in which her daughter is still alive. What if she had kept the 10-year-old in the school district’s dual language program and she wouldn’t have been at Robb Elementary? What if the young girl caught a stomach bug that week instead of the one prior? What if Mata-Rubio had taken her home after an awards ceremony the morning of the shooting?

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