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

Devastation in the Texas Hill Country: 66 Confirmed Dead, Dozens Missing, 850 Rescued, and a Call by Some to Abolish FEMA?

Devastation in the Texas Hill Country: 66 Confirmed Dead, Dozens Missing, 850 Rescued, and a Call by Some to Abolish FEMA?

by

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Like many of you, I spent yesterday—and now this morning—glued to the devastating news of the terrible tragedy that struck Fourth-of-July campers and communities along the Guadalupe River in the Central Texas Hill Country. 

This morning’s CBS news report is up-to-date, and it is heartbreaking. For context, Kerrville is located just 103 miles west of Austin—about a two-hour drive—which, by Texas standards, is very close to home. Plus, Austin is located in Travis County that also witnessed destruction where at least four deaths have been reported. This is, of course, an evolving situation.

As of this writing, the confirmed death toll stands at 66, including at least 15 children. At least two dozen more children from the lower-lying region of Camp Mystic are still missing. Aerial footage shows how the camp was divided into two parts: one higher up the bank, the other perilously close to the river's edge.

Here are two eyewitness accounts from camp supervisors, María Paula and Silvana Garza Valdez, who were tending to the younger children. Just a week earlier, they had been stationed in the lower portion of the camp. Thankfully, they had recently been reassigned to higher ground, where they comforted children crying—some because they didn’t want camp to end, others because they were terrified by the unrelenting rains. 

I’ve posted the full video below, which is in Spanish, as I found it to be one of the most informative accounts of how events unfolded at Camp Mystic—from the perspective of these young caretakers themselves. Despite describing their own trauma, they speak with remarkable clarity, maturity, and composure about what they experienced. If you don't understand Spanish, turn on the closed captioning on your website or TV so that you can capture the entire interview in English.

While multiple counties across Central and West Texas were affected by the storm—including my hometown of San Angelo and Travis County where I live—Kerr County, home to Kerrville and the upriver towns of Hunt (where Camp Mystic is located) and Ingram, suffered the most catastrophic loss of life where folks flocked from around the state on a national holiday.

Source: NY Times

Several interconnected factors contributed to the storm’s deadly impact, not the least of which is climate change that has resulted in more intense and more frequent water events, as expressed this morning by Congressman Joaquin Castro on CNN News. 

It began with the remnants of Hurricane Barry—a Category 1 storm that made landfall near the eastern Mexican state of Tampico on Sunday, June 29—merging with a stalled weather system over West Texas, creating an unusually powerful and volatile storm. As Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice explained in a press conference yesterday, what made the impact especially devastating for towns like Hunt, Ingram, and Comfort was the simultaneous rainfall along both forks of the Guadalupe River. These tributaries converged at Hunt, dramatically accelerating the river’s rise—causing water levels to surge by 30 feet in just two hours and overwhelming the communities downstream.

According to CBS News Texas, Governor Greg Abbott announced in a July 5 press briefing that “at least 850 people have been rescued from rising floodwaters in Central Texas over the past 36 hours,” underscoring the scale and urgency of the disaster response. The report states that 850 of these were uninjured and eight were injured.

In this moment of collective grief, it is essential to name not only the resilience of our communities, but also the critical importance of public infrastructure—especially FEMA, the National Weather Service (NWS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These agencies play vital roles in emergency response, weather forecasting, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have publicly called for the abolition of FEMA is not only reckless—it is dangerous. 

This tragedy makes painfully clear what’s at stake when political rhetoric turns against the very institutions tasked with safeguarding human life during natural disasters (Valenzuela, 2025).

We grieve for the lives lost. We pray for the children still missing and the families shattered by this storm. And we recommit ourselves to demanding leadership that values preparedness, community, and the right of all people—especially the most vulnerable—to survive and thrive.

References

CBS News. (2025, July 5). Central Texas flash flooding leaves dozens dead, hundreds rescued. Link

FEMA. (n.d.). About FEMA. https://www.fema.gov/about

Mazzone, C., & Reader, G. (2025, July 6). 4 dead in Travis County, 13 missing in devastating flooding. KXAN. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/2-dead-in-travis-county-at-least-10-missing-in-devastating-flooding/

NOAA. (n.d.). Our mission and vision. https://www.noaa.gov/our-mission-and-vision

Reuters. (2024, May 20). Kristi Noem calls for end to FEMA. https://www.reuters.com

Tabachnick, C., Czachor, E. M., & M., Breen.  (2025, July 6). At least 70 dead in devastating Central Texas flash floods, over 2 dozen remain missing. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-hill-country-severe-floods/

The Hill. (2024, March 3). Trump says he would abolish FEMA. https://thehill.com

Valenzuela, A. (2025, July 7, 2025). When the Waters Rose, So Did Mexico. Where is Our Humanity? [Blog] Educational Equity, Politics & Policy in Texas https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2025/07/when-waters-rose-so-did-mexico-where-is.html

A Helpful Message on Hurricane Matthew from the White House-DOWNLOAD FEMA APP

The White House, Washington

Hurricane Matthew is a dangerous storm.

We have not seen a hurricane this strong in almost a decade. It has already devastated Haiti, and has been building strength on its way to the U.S. As it makes landfall in Florida tonight and tracks up the eastern coastline over the coming days, Americans living in its path can expect to see life-threatening hurricane conditions, storm surges, tropical force winds, heavy rains, and all the devastation that that may bring.

Today, President Obama declared a state of emergency in Florida. Evacuations for coastal counties in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina are in effect. If you live in these areas, please listen to the directions of your state, tribal, and local officials. If instructed to evacuate, don't wait. You can always repair and rebuild -- and we'll be here to help you do that. The most important thing you can do is keep you and your family safe.

You can download the FEMA mobile app for shelter information, disaster resources, weather alerts, and safety tips, in English and in Spanish.

As a native Floridian, I am intimately aware of the devastation hurricanes can wreak. As the head of FEMA, it is my job to make sure that we do everything we can to prepare our communities for the oncoming storm and ensure that our emergency response efforts are ready to go as soon as we're needed.

That's why we've deployed teams to emergency operation centers in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to support preparation activities and ensure that no needs are unmet. We are staffing bases in Albany, Georgia, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina to collect and provide commodities and resources close to affected areas.

As of this morning, there were more than 414,000 liters of water, more than 513,700 meals, more than 8,000 blankets, and more than 20,600 cots in these locations. And more resources are on their way to Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia.

We're also coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor and inspect the integrity of dams in the area. We're working with the U.S. Coast Guard to assess and advise on the status of ports. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent emergency medical specialists to Georgia to assist if needed.

Hurricane Matthew has potential for life-threatening rain, wind, and storm surges along our coast. This serves as a reminder for residents in areas at risk and around the nation to refresh their emergency kits and review family plans.

If you do not have an emergency kit or family plan, or if you want to learn about steps you can take now to prepare your family for severe weather, visit ready.gov.

And as you've undoubtedly seen, this hurricane has already taken a devastating toll on Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and countries in the Caribbean. We know that many people who didn't have a lot to begin with have lost almost everything. More than 100 people have lost their lives, and so many more are in need of substantial help.

If you want do what you can to help, please visit the Center for International Disaster Information, www.cidi.org, to find out how you can provide support to people when they need it most.

Here at FEMA, we are hoping for the best but are preparing for the worst.

As we monitor the situation over the next couple of days, you can check back here for the latest information on response efforts.

Thank you,

Craig Fugate
Administrator, FEMA