The sister of one of the girls killed a month ago in the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded Thursday before the state Congress for the approval of stricter laws for the carrying of weapons.
Jazmin Cazares, 17, went to the compound of the committee that studies gun controls with her family and began her testimony remembering her sister Jacklyn, 9 years old.
“He shouldn't be here right now.
I should be at home watching a movie with my sister,"
he said as he cried, according to The Associated Press news agency.
"I'm here begging you to do something or to change something, because the people who were supposed to keep her safe at school didn't - they failed."
Jazmin Cazares, whose young sister Jacklyn was one of the 19 children killed at Robb Elementary School, speaks before an audience at the state capitol, Thursday, June 23, 2022, in Austin, Texas.
Eric Gay / AP
Jacklyn, who was described by her sister as a compassionate girl who dreamed of visiting Paris and becoming a vet, was among 19 children killed at Robb Primary School on May 24, after a man entered shooting for an hour without for the police to act.
The massacre, which also killed two teachers and left a desolate community, once again raised the alarm about mass murders and armed violence in the country and in the state that, under the administration of Governor Greg Abbott, has relaxed the laws to buy these artifacts.
[The Uvalde police were able to stop the murderer 3 minutes after the shooting began: "It was an abject mistake," criticizes the Texas authority]
“There should be absolutely no reason why this killer could have access to a firearm,” Cazares said, adding that she knew the committee members were listening when she saw them tear up.
"I felt it.
It felt genuine,” he assured.
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His testimony came just as Congress moved toward passage of its most far-reaching bipartisan gun violence bill in decades and the Supreme Court issued a ruling affirming that Americans have the right to bear arms. of fire in public.
Jazmin Cazares's interest is that schools are safe.
She is a senior and recalled that she has been doing shooting drills since she was in preschool.
“Going to school shouldn't be a decision.
But it is.
I'm in my senior year, that's all.
I am going to survive?".
According to The Associated Press, the Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has lifted gun restrictions in the last decade, even as the state suffered mass shootings that have killed more than 85 people since 2018.
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The state does not require a permit to carry a long-range rifle like the one used in Uvalde, and allows 18-year-olds to purchase them.
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Jazmin's father was one of those who approached the school on the day of the massacre to pressure the police into entering.
The delay and misinformation at the time has been a source of criticism for the authorities.
The Texas state police chief called the action a "failure."
Jazmin Cazares is hugged by Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes as she and her parents, Javier, right, and mother, Gloria, in the back, visit a group of police chiefs after a hearing at the state capitol, Thursday, June 23, 2022, in Austin, Texas. Eric Gay / AP
During a break in the hearing, Cazares and his family met with about 10 police chiefs and officers in a hallway.
“We have failed them,” San Marcos, Texas Police Chief Stan Standridge told the family.
The school district placed Pete Arredondo, the school police chief, on administrative leave Wednesday.
Arredondo has said he did not consider himself in charge and assumed someone else had taken control.