When Texas Regulates Camps but Not Guns: A Comparative Policy Response to Two Child-Centered Tragedies, by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D. May 23, 2026

When Texas Regulates Camps but Not Guns: A Comparative Policy Response to Two Child-Centered Tragedies

by

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

May 23, 2026

July 24 is always a special day for me and my husband because it is our
anniversary. It is a day I want to reserve for gratitude, love, memory, and the life we have built together. But this date now also carries additional significant meaning. 

Every year, as July 24 approaches, my mind is pulled back to May 24, 2022, the date of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed and at least 17 others were physically injured (Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, n.d.). Lamentably, joy and grief now share space in the same part of our hearts and calendar.

Source: KXXV Facebook

That grief returned again as I and others observed how the State of Texas responded to another tragedy involving children: the catastrophic Guadalupe River floods and the deaths connected to Camp Mystic. In all, I should note, 134 people lost their lives in this horrific tragedy (Shalvey, 2025).

Nothing about this comparison should be read as minimizing the pain of the flood victims’ families. Those children, counselors, parents, and surviving loved ones deserve every protection, every answer, every dollar of relief, and every serious reform Texas can provide. As a consequence, Camp Mystic will remain closed this Summer (CBS Texas, 2026).

Source: Instagram

But the contrast between the two state responses is difficult to ignore.

After the July 4, 2025 flooding, Texas moved quickly and concretely to regulate youth camps. Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1, known as the Youth CAMPER Act; Senate Bill 1, known as the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act; and Senate Bill 3, which created financial support for early-warning sirens in flash-flood-prone areas (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025c).

Source: Office of the Governor

These were not merely symbolic gestures. The laws require youth camps to adopt and annually update emergency plans, train staff, orient campers, notify parents of floodplain risks with signed acknowledgment, and share emergency plans with local emergency services (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025c). The laws also authorize enforcement through inspections, complaint investigations, license suspension, or license denial (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025c).

Most notably, Texas placed direct restrictions on where youth camps may house children. The Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act prohibits the Texas Department of State Health Services from licensing youth camps with cabins in FEMA-designated floodplains, with limited exceptions (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025c). In plain language, Texas said that some camp operations must change because the risk to children was too great.

That is a serious governmental response. It regulates an industry. It imposes burdens. It changes operations. It restricts what camps may do in the name of child safety.

And that is precisely why the Uvalde comparison hurts (e.g., Valenzuela, 2022).

After Uvalde, Texas did act in some ways. The Legislature passed school-safety measures, including House Bill 3, which required school districts to determine the appropriate number of armed security officers and generally ensure at least one armed security officer is present at each campus during regular school hours, subject to a good-cause exception when funding or qualified personnel are unavailable (Texas Legislature, 2023). Later, House Bill 33, the Uvalde Strong Act, addressed active-shooter preparedness, emergency-response coordination, reporting, training, public-information requirements, and school-safety equipment such as breaching tools and ballistic shields (Texas Legislature, 2025).

Source: Fox KDFW

Those measures matter. But they largely regulate the school environment and the emergency response after a threat exists. They do not meaningfully regulate access-to-the-weapon pathway as a preparatory response that Uvalde families repeatedly asked lawmakers to confront.

One of the clearest examples was the effort to raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. That proposal, championed by Uvalde families and advocates, stalled in the Texas Legislature (Serrano, 2023). So, while Texas was willing to restrict summer camps after children died in a flood, it was not willing to impose a comparable restriction on young adults’ access to certain firearms after children were murdered in a classroom.

That is the painful contradiction. After the Guadalupe River flood, Texas regulated the setting that contributed to the deaths. After Uvalde, Texas regulated doors, officers, training, response plans, and security tools—but not the firearm access issue that many grieving families identified as central to prevention.

The financial response across both tragedies also reveals a complicated picture. In Uvalde, the state announced a Family Assistance Center to help affected families and community members access crime-victim services, death benefits, counseling, funeral services, transportation, childcare, spiritual care, and other support (Office of the Texas Governor, 2022a). 

The state also announced an initial $5 million investment to establish a long-term Family Resiliency Center in Uvalde County for psychological first aid, crisis counseling, behavioral-health services, and related support (Office of the Texas Governor, 2022b). Separately, the Robb School Memorial Fund was established to support victims’ families, teachers, and the Uvalde community, including help with health care, travel, and funeral expenses (Office of the Texas Governor, 2022a).

Source: Fox KDFW

But those supports are not the same as full restitution. Nor are they the same as accountability. 

In April 2025, Uvalde city leaders approved a $2 million settlement for the families of the 21 people killed at Robb Elementary, described by the Associated Press as the first financial resolution from the many lawsuits following the attack (Vertuno, 2025). That settlement also included nonmonetary measures such as enhanced police training, expanded mental-health services, an annual May 24 day of remembrance, and a permanent memorial (Vertuno, 2025). Even so, other lawsuits remained pending, including actions against Texas state police officials and others (Vertuno, 2025).

For the Guadalupe River flood victims, financial relief has also appeared as a patchwork rather than a single, clear state restitution package. Governor Abbott joined the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country in announcing more than $40 million in long-term housing relief following the July 4 floods in Kerrville (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025b). 

He also appeared with the Vaqueros del Mar Texas Flood Relief Fund as $25,000 checks were presented to families affected by the catastrophic Hill Country floods, particularly those who suffered severe storm damage or lost homes (Office of the Texas Governor, 2025a). Meanwhile, families of Camp Mystic victims filed lawsuits alleging negligence and failure to evacuate; later reporting noted multiple suits seeking more than $1 million each in damages (Runnels, 2025, 2026).

So, in both tragedies, affected families have faced a mixture of public aid, private donations, insurance-backed settlements, and ongoing litigation. But money after death is not justice by itself. Relief funds can help families survive the aftermath. Settlements can acknowledge harm. Lawsuits can pursue accountability. But no payment can replace a child, a teacher, a counselor, or the future that was stolen.

The deeper issue is prevention.

Texas has now shown that when children die, the state can move beyond condolences. It can pass laws. It can regulate an industry. It can restrict dangerous placements. It can require emergency planning, training, warning systems, inspections, and licensing consequences. The Guadalupe River flood response proves that Texas knows how to turn grief into regulation.

Source: KSAT.com

The question is why the same kind of regulatory courage has not been appliedto gun access after Uvalde.
Again, this is not an argument against the camp-safety laws. 

Those reforms were necessary. Children should not sleep in cabins where flood danger is ignored. Parents should know whether a camp sits in a floodplain. Staff should be trained. Emergency plans should be real, reviewed, and enforceable.

But children should also be safe in classrooms. Parents should not have to beg lawmakers to consider firearm-access restrictions after their children are murdered. Families should not have to watch the state regulate cabins more directly than guns.

Both tragedies demanded compassion. Both demanded financial support. Both demanded accountability. Both demanded prevention.

Texas responded to the Guadalupe River flood by saying: camps must change.

After Uvalde, Texas still has not been willing to say with equal force: gun access must change, too.

That is the contradiction I cannot stop thinking about. And every time the 24th comes around, I remember Uvalde's grief and how love and loss can live side by side. But public policy should not stop at mourning. It should protect the living.

References

CBS Texas. (2026, May 1). Camp Mystic will not reopen after withdrawing 2026 license following hearing over deadly floods [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQi3voPG3m4

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. (n.d.). Critical incident review: Active shooter at Robb Elementary School. U.S. Department of Justice. https://cops.usdoj.gov/uvalde

Office of the Texas Governor. (2022a, May 27). Governor Abbott provides details on state resources available to Uvalde community impacted by Robb Elementary School tragedy. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-provides-details-on-state-resources-available-to-uvalde-community-impacted-by-robb-elementary-school-tragedy

Office of the Texas Governor. (2022b, June 1). Governor Abbott announces $5 million investment to establish long-term Family Resiliency Center in Uvalde County. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-5-million-investment-to-establish-long-term-family-resiliency-center-in-uvalde-county

Office of the Texas Governor. (2025a, August 9). Governor Abbott gives Strait to the Heart funds to Hill Country flood victims. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-gives-strait-to-the-heart-funds-to-hill-country-flood-victims

Office of the Texas Governor. (2025b, August 21). Governor Abbott, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country announce over $40 million in long-term flood relief funding efforts. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-community-foundation-of-the-texas-hill-country-announce-over-40-million-in-long-term-flood-relief-funding-efforts

Office of the Texas Governor. (2025c, September 5). Governor Abbott signs Texas summer camp safety bills into law. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-signs-texas-summer-camp-safety-bills-into-law

Runnels, A. (2025, November 10). Parents of flood victims suing Camp Mystic for negligence. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/texas-floods-kerr-county-camp-mystic-lawsuit/

Runnels, A. (2026, February 6). Family of still-missing camper sues to shut down Camp Mystic. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/06/texas-hill-country-camp-mystic-lawsuit-negligence/

Shalvey, K. (2025, July 15).Texas flooding updates: Death toll reaches 134, search continues for missing, ABC News. https://abcnews.com/US/live-updates/texas-flooding-live-updates/?id=123729682

Serrano, A. (2023, May 23). Gun safety advocates see signs of progress in first session after Uvalde shooting even though raise-the-age bill stalled. The Texas Tribune. https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2023/05/23/gun-safety-advocates-see-signs-of-progress-in-first-session-after-uvalde-shooting-even-though-raise-the-age-bill-stalled/

Texas Legislature. (2023). H.B. No. 3, 88th Legislature, Regular Session: Enrolled version. https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB3/2023

Texas Legislature. (2025). H.B. No. 33, 89th Legislature, Regular Session: Enrolled version. https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB33/2025

Valenzuela, A. (2022, May 30). Remembering Uziyah Sergio Garcia (August 13, 2011 ~ May 24, 2022) of San Angelo, Texas. https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2022/05/remembering-uziyah-sergio-garcia-august.html

Vertuno, J. (2025, April 23). Uvalde leaders approve $2M for Robb Elementary families in first settlement over 2022 attack. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-texas-2022-school-shooting-million-settlement-06c2477186c48edcb4fe5f8ffe2a4f0b

The Color of Pain—Color del dolor: 21 Uvalde murals of Robb Elementary victims use paint to heal pain

Incredible murals in Uvalde used to honor the victims, these small children whose lives were taken by senseless violence.

It's all so terribly sad and traumatizing. Thoughts and prayers for Uvalde and victims of such violence everywhere. Art does help the healing process, in great part by memorializing these childrens' lives.

Do click on the actual newspaper link so that you can see every painting. Simply beautiful!

-Angela Valenzuela

Color del dolor: 21 Uvalde murals of Robb 

Elementary victims use paint to heal pain

Across downtown Uvalde are 21 murals for each of the victims

with each one telling unique stories about each person.

Luz Moreno-LozanoAustin American-Statesman

Published 5:01 AM CDT Oct. 25, 2022 Updated 3:27 PM CDT Oct. 26, 2022

ditor’s note: Our story has been updated to reflect an updated list of artists for 

the murals of Jackie Cazares, Makenna Elrod, Jose Flores, Layla Salazar and 

Rojelio Torres.

UVALDE — More than two dozen artists from across Texas spent this past summer 

memorializing the 21 victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in a series of 

murals for the Healing Uvalde project.  

Each of the 21 murals that dot downtown Uvalde tells a story about that person: 

the Girl Scout who saved her friends, the child who always was the life of the party, 

the aspiring lawyer, or the couple who shared a timeless love.  

Lee en Español:21 murales en Uvalde de las víctimas de la Primaria Robb 

utilizan la pintura para sanar el dolor

Abel Ortiz Acosta, who lives and teaches in Uvalde, partnered with Monica Maldonado, 

founder of Austin-based nonprofit MAS Cultura, to organize the three-month project 

that wrapped up in September.  

“We know that art heals,” Maldonado said. “We wanted to use that to help this 

community heal but also show solidarity and be in unity with Uvalde. There is no 

doubt in my mind that this is part of their healing journey, and for many families we 

hope this lets them know that their kids and teachers matter and they won’t be forgotten.”

(Click menu icon at top left of map to see full list of murals)

Continue reading here.

 LULAC at its best! This is what we do when we help one another.

To be sure, it was the kind of support that parents wish they had never been in a position to receive. 

Our thoughts, hearts, and prayers go out to them. They need so much help even as they will surely help our state by putting a face on our harmful gun policies—and building a constituency, to boot.

Most of the money came from fellow Texans, I understand. So great to see it going exactly where and when it's needed. Thanks to President Domingo Garcia for his outstanding leadership.

-Angela Valenzuela

#UvaldeStrong #RememberUvalde #Uvalde

LULAC donates nearly half a million dollars to Uvalde shooting victims’ families

Donations were equally distributed among families on Saturday, Aug. 20.

LULAC raised nearly half a million dollars in its national campaign “Pray for Texas” to provide aid and support to the victims’ families.

UVALDE, Texas – Nearly three months have passed since the Robb Elementary School tragedy. Still, families of the victims will have some financial relief thanks to a donation from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

LULAC raised nearly half a million dollars in its national campaign “Pray for Texas” to provide aid and support to the victims’ families.

Checks were distributed equally to the families at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Southwest Texas Junior College Cafeteria.

Oscar Orona was there with his son.

”My son Noah Orona was in room 112 at Robb Elementary where he suffered a gunshot wound to the back and survived. He spent a little bit over a week at Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio,” Orona said.

Orona said Noah is doing okay after being shot at Robb Elementary on May 24th.

“About a 2-inch-wide hole in his back and then the exit wound was about an 8-inch slither on his upper shoulder what pretty much left a…I call it a ‘canal of destruction,’” Orona said.

While he spent a week in the hospital, his path to recovery is much longer.

“We have 48 occupational therapy sessions between now and December and 46 physical therapy sessions between now and December,” Orona said.

It’s just as much a toll financially as it is physically.

“My wife and I both work, and one of the things we’ve encountered is a lot of the assistance is income-based. So we don’t qualify,” Orona said.

Javier Cazares, Jackie’s father, is thankful for help they received from LULAC.

“Of course, we need to go back to work and I’ve tried…it’s just, with this tragedy it’s different from losing a child or person to a sickness you know, versus how they were taken. It’s that much harder,” Cazares said.

Aside from the monetary help, LULAC also offered support for raising the age to purchase an assault-style rifle from 18 to 21.

Cazares vows he and other families won’t stop fighting until that happens.

“I saw the damage it did to my little girl. And it’s important you know, an 18-year-old doesn’t need that weapon,” Cazares said.

District 19 state senator Roland Gutierrez promised to fight with them.

”Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, we have to bring about common sense goals that are going to keep our children safe, and are going to keep us safe so this never happens again,” Gutierrez said.

Since the school massacre, many have also shown financial support for the families through the Uvalde Together We Rise Fund and the Robb School Memorial Fund.

However, how and when these funds will be distributed has raised some confusion.

To learn more about these funds and how they will be given to the families later this year, click here.