Remembering Uvalde Victim, Amerie Jo Garza: A Mother's Memory and Anguish

Read this gut-wrenching statement on the violent murder of Amerie Jo Garza and cry.

We must organize to address gun safety in our schools. I'm am inspired by Scarlett Lewis, who is advocating that folks "choose love," in honor of her son, Jesse, who was killed at Sandy Hook. This is the same mother who, along with her husband, sued Alex Jones who spread lies and conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook for which he paid dearly—to the tune of close to $50 million in damages such that Alex Jones will now be, in effect, paying for keeping children safe in school and fomenting love, not war.

We must do better. We can do better. We must not hate. We must not kill. We must, in all instances, choose love and compassion over hatred and fear.

Do take some a few minutes, as well, to listen to this video, a special tribute to Amerie by her parents. Thanks to Alfredo Santos for publishing this essay in La Voz de Austin.

-Angela Valenzuela

#ChooseLove #Uvalde #UvaldeStrong #guncontrol #ProtectOurKids

 

Written by one of the Uvalde victim’s moms: 

August, 2022

The chicken soup in her thermos stayed hot all day while her body grew cold. She never had a chance to eat the baloney and cheese sandwich. I got up 10 minutes early to cut the crust off a sandwich that will never be eaten. 

Should I call and cancel her dental appointment next Wednesday? Will the office automatically know? Should I still take her brother to the appointment since I already took the day off work? Last time Carlos had one cavity and Amerie asked him what having a cavity feels like. She will never experience having a cavity.
She will never experience having a cavity filled.

The cavities in her body now are from bullets, and they can never be filled. 

What if she had asked to use the bathroom in the hall a few minutes prior to the gunman entering the room, locking the door, and slaughtering all inside?
Was she one of the first kids in the room to die or one of the last? 

These are the things they don’t tell us. 

Which of her friends did she see die before her? Hannah? Emily? Both? 

Did their blood and brains splatter across her Girl Scout uniform?
She just earned a Fire Safety patch. What if it got ruined? There are no patches for school shootings. 

Was she practicing writing GIRAFFE the moment he walked in her classroom, barricaded the door and opened fire? 

She keeps forgetting the silent “e” at the end. We studied this past weekend, and now she doesn’t need to take the spelling test on Friday.

None of them will take the spelling test on Friday. 

There will be no spelling test on Friday.
Because there is no one to give it.
And no one to take it.
These are the things I will never know:
I will never know at what age she would have started her period. 

I will never know if she had wisdom teeth. (Or if they would have come in crooked.) 

I will never know who she spoke to last. Was it the teacher? Was it her table partner, George? She says George is always talking, even during silent reading. Did she even scream? 

She screamed the lyrics to We Don’t Talk About Bruno at 7:58 AM as she hopped out of my car in the circle drive. She always sings the Dolores part, her sister sings Mirabel and I’m Bruno. 

“And I wanted you to know that your bro loves you so Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow, let it goooooo........”
Did the killer ever see Encanto? 

Could we have sat in the same row of seats, on the same day, munching popcorn? 

What if Amerie brushed past him in the aisle? Did she politely say, “Excuse me,” to the boy who would someday blow her eye sockets apart?

Was he chomping on bubble gum as he destroyed them all? 

If so, what flavor?
Cinnamon?
Wintergreen?
Was the radio on as he drove to massacre them? Or did he drive in silence? Was the sun in his eyes as he got out of the car in the parking lot? 

Did his pockets hold sunglasses or just ammunition? These are the things I will never know. 

There is laundry in the dryer that is Amerie’s.
Clothes I never need to fold again.
Clothes that are right now warmer than her body.
How will I ever be able to take them out of the dryer and where will I put them if not back in her dresser? 

I can never wash clothes in that dryer again.
It will stand silent; a tomb for her pajamas and knee socks. 

Her cousin’s graduation party is next month and I already signed her name in the card. Should I cross it out? That will be the last card I ever sign her name to. The dog will live longer than she will. 

The dog will be 12 next month and she will be eternally 10. What will the school do with her backpack? 

It was brand new this year and she attached her collection of keychains like cherished trophies to its zipper.
A beaded 4 leaf clover she made on St. Patty’s Day. A red heart from a Walk-a-Thon. 

A neon ice cream cone from her friend’s birthday party. Now there will be no more keychains to attach.
No more trophies. 

Surely they can’t throw it out? Would they throw them all out? 19 backpacks, full of stickered assignments and rainboots, all taken to the dumpster behind the school? Is there even a dumpster big enough to contain all that life? 

These are the things someone else knows:
The moment the semiautomatic rifle was put into his hands—was “Bring Me a Higher Love” playing in the gun store? “Get off my Cloud” by the Rolling Stones? Maybe it was Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”

Did the Outback Oasis salesperson hesitate as they slid him 375 rounds of ammunition? 

Not my problem my kids are grown and out of school Or I don’t have kids, so I don’t have to worry about their skulls getting blown across the nap time mat
Or fingers crossed there’s a good guy with an equally powerful gun that will stop this gun if needed 

Did they sense any danger or were they more focused on picking that morning’s Raisin Bran out of their teeth? My Nana used to say, “Pay attention to what whispers, and you won’t have to when it starts screaming.” 

But now I know there is a more deafening sound than children screaming. 

More horrific even, than automatic rifles on a Tuesday morning. 

I beg the world: 

Pay attention to what’s screaming today, or be forced to endure the silence that follows.” 

This is something to track since at least some progress may occur, potentially saving lives (see earlier post on gun-related deaths and suicides in the U.S.) The bill making its way through Congress titled, the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act’’ would strengthen existing background checks for young firearms buyers, with more sellers being required to conduct them while stiffening penalties on gun traffickers. States would also get added school safety and mental health support. 

Members of Congress are currently debating the proposed $750 million that would go to the 19 states and DC that already have what's termed, “red flag" laws that make it easier to take away peoples' firearms in the event that they get judged as "dangerous," with other states getting violence-prevention-program support. This not only sounds commonsense to me, but a minimal investment considering the vast need for resources across the U.S.

Also, greater than $2 billion will go toward mental health services at schools so that they can hire and train staff, together with $300 million for school safety improvements.

This link will help you know who represents you in Congress. It only takes a minute to reach out to them to let them know what you think.

-Angela Valenzuela

Senators reach bipartisan compromise on gun violence bill backed by Texas Sen. John Cornyn

The legislation would toughen background checks for young people and provide money to improve school safety and mental health initiatives, among other provisions.

ALAN FRAM | June 22, 2022 | AP News

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022.Patrick Semansky/AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate bargainers reached agreement Tuesday on a bipartisan gun violence bill, potentially teeing up final passage by week's end on an incremental but landmark package that would stand as Congress’ response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation.

Lawmakers released the 80-page bill nine days after agreeing to a framework for the plan and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs. It cleared an initial procedural hurdle by 64-34, with 14 Republicans joining all 48 Democrats and two allied independents in voting yes. That strongly supported a prediction by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of approval later this week. Passage by the Democratic-led House could follow quickly.

Though Republicans blocked tougher restrictions sought by Democrats, the accord marks an election-year breakthrough on an issue that pits the GOP's staunch gun-owning and rural voters against Democrats' urban-centered backers of firearms curbs. That makes it one of the most incendiary culture war battlefields in politics and a sensitive vote for some lawmakers, particularly Republicans who might alienate Second Amendment stalwarts.

The legislation would toughen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, require more sellers to conduct background checks and beef up penalties on gun traffickers. It also would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.

Aides estimated the measure would cost around $15 billion, which Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic bargainer, said would be fully paid for.

Resolving one final hurdle that delayed the accord, the bill would prohibit romantic partners convicted of domestic violence and not married to their victims from getting firearms. Convicted abusers who are married to, live with or had children with their victims are already barred from having guns.

The compromise prohibits guns for a person who has “a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim.’’ That is defined in part as one between people ”who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature." An offender’s ability to own a gun could be restored after five years if they’ve not committed another serious crime.

On another late dispute, the bill would provide $750 million to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have “red flag" laws making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs. States with “red flag” laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm's removal.

Momentum in Congress for gun legislation has a history of waning quickly after mass shootings. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-week July 4th recess by this weekend.

The legislation lacks far more potent proposals that President Joe Biden supports and Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for years, derailed by GOP opposition. These include banning assault-type weapons or raising the minimum age for buying them, prohibiting high-capacity magazines and requiring background checks for virtually all gun sales.

Yet after 10 Black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers died days later in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that this time, measured steps were preferable to Congress’ usual reaction to such horrors — gridlock.

Murphy said that after Buffalo and Uvalde, “I saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that I spoke to that I’ve never seen before.” He said his colleagues also encountered anxiety among voters “not just for the safety of their children, but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something, and do something meaningful."

This bill, Murphy said, would “save thousands of lives." Before entering the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members perished in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Top GOP bargainer Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of the pact, “Some think it goes too far, others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. It’s the nature of compromise."

But he added, “I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe. I’m confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction."

In a positive sign about its fate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced his support, calling it “a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

The National Rifle Association, which has spent decades derailing gun control legislation, expressed opposition. “It falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners," the gun lobby group said.

It seemed likely a majority of Republicans — especially in the House — would oppose the legislation.

Underscoring the backlash GOP lawmakers supporting the pact would face from the most hard-right voters, delegates booed Cornyn at his state’s Republican convention in Houston Saturday as he described the proposal.

In another measure of conservative sentiment, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that the bill “ignores the national crime wave & chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens.” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a possible White House contender, said it would “restrict the freedoms of law-abiding Americans and put too much power in the hands of politicians and political officials.”

The measure will need at least 10 GOP votes to reach the 60-vote threshold major bills often need in the 50-50 Senate. Cornyn told reporters that he expected at least 10 GOP votes for the measure.

What’s uncertain is whether passage would mark the beginning of slow but gradual action to curb gun violence, or the high water mark on the issue. Until Buffalo and Uvalde, a numbing parade of mass slayings — at sites including elementary and high schools, houses of worship, military facilities, bars and the Las Vegas Strip — have yielded only stalemate in Washington.

“Thirty years, murder after murder, suicide after suicide, mass shooting after mass shooting, Congress did nothing," Murphy said. “This week we have a chance to break this 30-year period of silence with a bill that changes our laws in a way that will save thousands of lives.”

The bill would require that federal background checks for gun buyers age 18 to 20 include examination of the purchaser's juvenile record. That could add up to seven more days to the current three-day limit on background checks.

The suspects in the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings were both 18 years old, a profile that matches many recent mass shooters.

There would be hundreds of millions of dollars to expand community behavioral health centers, telemedicine visits for mental specialists and train first responders to handle people with mental health issues. More than $2 billion would be provided to hire and train staff for school mental health services, including $300 million to improve school safety.

Congress’ prohibited assault-type firearms in 1993 in a ban that expired after a decade, lawmakers’ last sweeping legislation addressing gun violence.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during a rally near Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 10, 2022, urging Congress to pass gun legislation.Susan Walsh/AP

___

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.