Voto Latino hosted “Stand with Uvalde” at Travis Park
This past Saturday, June 4, Voto Latino hosted “Stand With Uvalde” — a call-to-action event at Travis Park in San Antonio in support of the families and community suffering in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde. Familiar faces of the Texas community preached last weekend about the faults of our system and how common-sense gun laws should be in place. San Antonio natives Congressman Joaquin Castro; his brother, former Mayor Julian Castro, and DA Joe Gonzales were all present along with San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Beto O’Rourke. They all spoke at the event expressing their concerns about gun control and the action needed to tranquilize the accessibility of automatic weapons.
District attorney Joe Gonzales expressed the struggles he faces as Bexar County Criminal District Attorney.
“How can I do my job when everyone has a gun?” Gonzales said. “How can I do my job when someone is quick to pull a gun instead of having a discussion — when someone is quick to pull a gun and point it at someone during a road rage incident or at a gas station? We have to do something about the guns that we see in our communities.”
Julian Castro highlighted that this problem seems to highly persist in America and it has become increasingly prevalent in our daily lives.
“This is a uniquely American problem, and that means that it’s going to take a unique American determination to change it,” Julian Castro said.
Popovich really took to this event vocalizing the horrifying truths that Texas has taken to prevent future mass shootings. He mentioned the press conference where Beto O’Rourke confronted Gov. Greg Abbott as he was talking about the deadly shooting.
“The first reaction of the people up on the dais there was ‘you’re out of line’,” Popovich said. “Who’s out of line? You’re out of line because you haven’t done crap and 19 more people were murdered. It’s just incredible, they think we’re stupid.”
He then went on to question the state government’s focus on mental illness.
“If it’s true that mental illness is important, then why did this government in Texas slash the budget for mental illness?” he asked.
In 2021 Governor Abbott signed the House Bill 1927, known as the permit-less carry law, which eliminated the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun. Joaquin Castro reflected back on the governor’s response following the deadly El Paso shooting in 2019 where 20 people were killed and several more were injured at a grocery store.
“Governor Abbott said he was going to make it harder for these kinds of massacres to happen again,” Joaquin Castro said. “Instead he made it easier for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons in their hands.”
Joaquin Castro said the U.S. House of Representatives will pass red flag laws. Though it is not that easy in Congress, especially with the way Republicans are desperate for authority. With elections coming up in November it will truly show where not only Texans stand but also every American as we’ve become deeply polarized over the recent issues of gun laws, abortion, immigration, inflation, foreign policy, etc. Will the side of right, common sense, and dignity prevail? Or will we continue in turmoil and rising tensions?
I hope you know history as well as I do because the longer we sit and do not participate in our democratic processes we lose the power to people and forfeit our power to the people society does not confide in. Do whatever possible to mark off your calendar for election day, November 8 2022, because every vote will significantly matter.
