Family Members of Buffalo and Uvalde Mass Shootings Ask Americans To ‘Stand With Us’

A Buffalo, New York, mother whose son was shot by a white supremacist who killed 10 Black shoppers at a grocery store invited members of a Congressional committee to visit her home and watch her clean the gunshot wounds left from the assault rifle the gunman used during his violent rampage on May 14.

“My son Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck. Two in his back,” testified Zeneta Everhart. “As I clean his wounds, I can feel pieces of the bullets. This should not be your story or mine.”

Everhart, a pediatrician and parents from Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old killed 19 students and two teachers testified Wednesday before the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform Committee and called for sweeping changes in America’s gun laws.

Dr. Roy Querrero, a pediatrician who tended some of the young patients from Robb Elementary in Uvalde told lawmakers, “Keeping them save from bacteria and brittle bones, I can do. But making sure our children are safe from guns is your job. We are bleeding out and you are not there.”

Felix Rubio, a law enforcement officer and the father of 10-year-old Lexi who was killed at Robb Elementary, sat stoically while Kimberly Rubio described their daughter as “intelligent, athletic, compassionate and direct.”

Rubio added, “To people with money, who give to political campaigns … guns are more important than children.”  She asked Congress to raise the age for purchasing a gun from 18 to 21, to enact red-flag laws and repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity.

Seeking Bipartisan Support

Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the committee, said, “Gun violence is the leading cause of death for our children. This out-of-control gun violence is a uniquely American problem. No other country comes close to the number of school shootings we have.” Maloney says she wants the top five gun manufacturers investigated, gun trafficking classified as a felony and laws strengthened for straw gun purchasers.

Congressman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, stated, “Too often tragedies are politicized for partisan gain … to push for radical, left-wing policies.”

Comer pivoted to the explanations Republicans often offer for gun violence: efforts to defund the police and local prosecutors who are “soft on crime.”

He added, “Our knee-jerk reactions are not the answer. Gun ownership is on the rise in America. People want to protect themselves and their families … we must continue to empower our law enforcement.”

Congresswoman Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, who also serves on the committee tackled the issue of assault rifles by citing the racially motivated shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church where the shooter used 9 mm handguns when he opened fire on the largely Taiwanese congregation. He was stopped by a doctor who lost his life attacking the gunman.

“Shootings that involve assault weapons are six times as deadly as shootings involving handguns,” Porter explained. “California has banned these weapons for years. Congress must follow California’s lead.”

Porter’s call for a ban mirrored the concerns of the Buffalo and Uvalde parents who testified.

Kimberly Rubio, who last saw her daughter alive at an awards ceremony at Robb Elementary, said, “We need you to stand with us in the days, weeks and years to come to help us create the change this country so desperately needs.”