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Valley parents concerned about sending children to school following Uvalde shooting

1 year 9 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, June 01 2022 Jun 1, 2022 June 01, 2022 9:47 AM June 01, 2022 in News - Local

The school shooting in Uvalde is sparking calls from the federal and state level for gun legislation.

Now, Valley parents are weighing in on what they’d like to see be done.

Gala Perez, a Mission parent, says she’s scared to send her kids to school. A mother of three, Perez says her son is four years old and goes to school. Starting next year, her other son will be going to school, too. Perez says she’ll continue to send her children to school, but wants to speak to school officials first to make sure her children are safe.

Meanwhile, Christian Loera, a father of two from Edinburg, is taking it a bit further.

“I'm double thinking about sending my kids to in-person learning,” Loera said in Spanish. “I'd rather want them attending class virtually.”

Loera believes in bearing arms, but said people should be evaluated before getting a gun.

Lawmakers are engaged in gun legislation talks at the federal level. Any changes at the state level will be left to state lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott.

"[Abbott will] say everything is on the table, but that was said also after Santa Fe, Sutherland Springs, and El Paso, and we didn't see any noteworthy changes here in Texas,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “To the contrary, we actually saw a liberalization of gun laws.”

With a majority Republican state legislature in Austin and senate in Washington, Jones believes the idea to raise the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old could possibly be the only change we see.

Democrats and some Republicans have asked Abbott to call a special session.

"When we hit January with the new legislative session, we're not going to see any significant gun control legislation,” Jones said.

Republican state representatives Steve Allison, Lyle Larson and Kel Seliger have said they're interested in some type of reform, like changing the age limit to buy a firearm.

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