An Equal Opportunity Tragedy

he anniversary of the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, May 24, 2022, brought attention to the gun control debate again. t he attention was magnified for me by the Cleveland, Texas mass shooting on April 28, 2023.

In Cleveland —forty-five miles northeast of Houston— Francisco Oropeza, age 38, killed five of his neighbors, including a nine-year-old boy. t hat night o ropeza had been sitting in his yard firing his AR-15-style semi-automatic assault rifle, possibly while drinking. Another neighbor said it was not uncommon for men in the neighborhood after work to sit in their yards to drink and shoot, especially on a Friday night.

i t seems o ropeza’s mental y más agentes de seguridad armados en las escuelas —el que no obtuvo apoyo. una solución más eficiente, efectiva y directa sería mantener las armas fuera del alcance de esas personas en crisis. inestables, inmaduras, etc., implementando reglas más estrictas sobre la posesión de armas. Con Cruz, uno no sabe si su oposición al control de armas se basa en la lealtad a la segunda Enmienda de la Constitución de los Estados unidos o en el hecho de que recibe cientos de miles de dólares en donaciones de campaña de la industria de las armas.

Una prohibición de armas de asalto, o reglas estrictas sobre la posesión de armas, probablemente habrían continúa a la vuelta tbackyard firing was interrupted by a couple of his new Honduran neighbors, who asked him to stop the noise, because their children couldn’t sleep, so he went to their house and shot them to death.

It was a year ago that 18-year-old Salvador ramos entered robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and killed 19 students and 2 teachers as well as wounding 17 others. He used an AR-15 style assault weapon that he bought on his 18th birthday.

An explanation for the uvalde and Cleveland, Texas shootings is difficult to discern. Although both were of Mexican descent, almost all of their victims were Mexican/Hispanic Americans. ramos attended high school and lived in Uvalde. His personal background reveals a bullied loner with no criminal history and with an interest in high-powered firearms. o ropeza’s behavior is even more baffling —given the fact that he is an undocumented Mexican immigrant... Why would he attack other Latin American immigrants?

In Oropeza’s case, alcohol may have been a factor. it is well documented that alcohol and guns are a dangerous mix. it is harder to pinpoint a specific issue for Ramos, but his problem might have been more psychological.

The question remains, what causes mass murderers to lose impulse control and causes them to take out their frustrations, anger, or aggression on innocent children and innocent people? Alcohol, immaturity (too young for responsible gun ownership), criminal intent, hate, ideological extremism, personal crisis, unmitigated stress, physical illness, a pandemic, mental illness, etc., the list of potential triggers for antisocial and homicidal behavior seems endless. And let’s not forget lawless and unethical or immoral behavior modeled by unscrupulous people with power and influence.

Gun rights advocates often say it’s not the gun but the person who kills. Mental illness becomes an excuse or is used to explain away the need for gun control. For example, when uvalde parents who advocated for raising the age for the purchase of assault type weapons from 18 to 21, with Salvador Ramos the Uvalde shooter in mind, Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz opposed their initiative. He also opposed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety bill to pass in nearly 30 years, spearheaded by fellow texas republican senator, John Cornyn.

Following the Uvalde massacre, Cruz proposed a senate bill that would provide funding for mental health services and more armed security officers on school sites – which failed to get support. A more efficient, effective, and direct solution would be to keep guns out of the hands of those in crisis, unstable, immature, etc., through implementing more stringent gun ownership rules. With Cruz, one doesn’t know if his opposition to gun control is based on fealty to the second Amendment of the u s. Constitution or the fact that he receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the gun industry.

A ban on assault weapons or stringent rules on gun ownership would have probably kept assault weapons out of the hands of Oropeza and definitely out of the hands of Ramos.

Of course, the opponents of gun control say that it doesn’t work. After the recent mass shooting in Allen Texas, State Representative, Democrat, Henry Cuellar asserted that strict gun measures have not ended mass shootings in blue states with stricter gun laws.

However, his - tory contradicts this argument. New York university’s Michael J. Klein writes that in “the years after the federal assault weapons ban went into effect (1994), the number of deaths from mass shootings fell, and the increase in the annual number of incidents slowed down (...) The data shows an almost immediate — and steep — rise in mass shooting deaths in the years after the assault weapons ban expired in 2004.”

An Equal Opportunity Tragedy from the previous page mantenido ese AR-15 fuera del alcance de Oropeza y, si lugar a dudas, fuera del alcance de ramos.

Jennifer rubin of the daily Washington Post argued that gun control opponents should see what an AR-15 does to a child. Roy Guerrero, Uvalde’s lone pediatrician, described the “...mangled, unrecognizable bodies of children who were victims of the shooting” on his town’s school. He saw “two children whose bodies had been pulverized by bullets fired at them, decapitated, whose flesh had been [so] ripped apart, that the only clue as to their identities was the blood-spattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them.”

Ten-year-old Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, a victim in the Uvalde school, always wore green high-top Converse sneakers with a hand-drawn heart on the right toe “because they represented her love of nature.” Her green Converse shoes turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. Maite’s green shoes have become a symbol for the horrific loss of children at Robb Elementary school.

In May 2023, a bill that would raise the age to legally purchase semi-automatic rifles in Texas, supported by Uvalde shooting victims’ parents, found some momentum but was left off the texas House’s agenda ahead of a key deadline. Uvalde parents had lobbied and demonstrated in support of House Bill 2744 at the Capitol’s legislative chambers. Despite the setback, they vowed to never stop the fight. One of the parents declared on Twitter, “2744 may have died tonight, but we will never stop! Texas has fk’d with the wrong parents.”

After yet another mass shooting —just now, in May 2023— Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez, Democrat, whose district encompasses u valde blasted politicians that refuse to enact gun reform stating on Twitter, “There is a special place in hell for people who watch this happen and choose to do nothing...” sometimes art and music capture a sentiment that logic and reason can’t. In this vein, I offer a line that may capture Gutierrez’ sentiment from a Jose Alferdo Jiménez ranchera that reads “Pero se sentía el ambiente, Muy cerquita del infierno.”

Una Tragedia al Alcance de Todos viene de la vuelta

Por supuesto, los opositores al control de armas dicen que no funciona. Después del reciente baleo masivo en Allen, Texas, el representante estatal demócrata Henry Cuellar afirmó que las estrictas medidas sobre armas no han terminado con las balaceras en los estados azules que cuentan con restricciones en la posesión de armas.

Sin embargo, la historia contradice este argumento. Michael J. Klein, de la Universidad de Nueva York, escribe que “en los años posteriores a la entrada en vigor de la prohibición federal de armas de asalto (1994) disminuyó la cantidad de muertes por tiroteos masivos y se desaceleró el aumento en la cantidad anual de incidentes (...) Las estadísticas revelan un aumento casi inmediato, y pronunciado, en las muertes masivas por balas en los años posteriores a la expiración de [dicha] prohibición de armas de asalto en 2004”.

Jennifer Rubin, del diario Washington Post, argumentó que los opositores al control de armas deberían ver lo que un AR-15 le hace a un niño. Roy Guerrero, el único pediatra en Uvalde, describió los “...cuerpos destrozados e irreconocibles de niños que fueron víctimas de las balas en la escuela” de su pueblo. Vio a “dos niños cuyos cuerpos habían sido pulverizados por las balas que les dispararon, decapitados, cuya carne había sido [tan] desgarrada, que la única pista sobre sus identidades era la ropa de dibujos animados salpicada de sangre que aún llevaban adherida”.

Maite Yuleana Rodríguez, de diez años, víctima en la escuela Uvalde, siempre usaba zapatillas Converse verdes de caña alta con un corazón dibujado a mano en la punta del pie derecho “porque representaba su amor por la naturaleza”. sus zapatillas Converse resultaron ser la única evidencia clara que pudo identificarla después del tiroteo. Esas zapatillas verdes de Maite se han convertido en el símbolo de la horrible pérdida de niños en la Escuela Primaria robb.

En mayo de 2023, un proyecto de ley que aumentaría la edad para comprar legalmente rifles semiautomáticos en Texas, respaldado por los padres de las víctimas del tiroteo de Uvalde, halló cierto respaldo, pero quedó fuera de la agenda de la Legislatura de texas antes de una fecha límite clave. Los padres de uvalde habían hecho mucha presencia y se habían manifestado en apoyo del Proyecto de Ley 2744 en las dos cámaras legislativas del

BIBLIOGRAPh Y

Campbell, Josh. “ t here is a special place in hell for people who watch all this happen and choose to do nothing,” Gutierrez tweeted, along with the hashtag: #bloodontheirhands. 7 May 2023. Article. 22 June 2023.

CBS News. texas shooting manhunt continues; sheriff says suspect “could be anywhere now”. 1 May 2023. Artilce. 22 June 2023.

Choi, Matthew and William Melhado. Parents of uvalde shooting victim urge ted Cruz to support gun control, to no avail. 14 September 2022. Article. 22 June 2023.

Jiménez, José Afredo. “Llegó borracho el borracho.” by José Alfredo Jiménez. n.d. Levenson, Eric, et al. uvalde school shooting suspect was a loner who bought two assault rifles for his 18th birthday. 27 May 2022. Artilce. 22 June 2023.

Marcus, John. Maite Rodriguez: uvalde victim identified by her green Converse who is inspiring Matthew McConaughey to act. 7 June 2022. Article. 22 June 2023.

Millman, Andrew. texas rep. Cuellar rejects calls for stricter laws, says shootings happen in blue states, too. 7 May 2023. Article. 22 June 2023.

Moore, Robert and Mark Berman. El Paso suspect said he was targeting ‘Mexicans,’ told officers he was the shooter, police say. 9 August 2019. Article. 22 June 2023.

Rubin, Jennifer. republicans should see what an AR-15 does to a child’s body. 9 June 2022. Washington Post. 22 June 2023.

Serrano, Alejandro. raise-the-age gun bill misses crucial deadline, as Uvalde parents protest outside the Texas House. 9 May 2023. Article. 22 June 2023.

Capitolio. A pesar del revés, prometieron no detener nunca su lucha. uno de los padres declaró en twitter: “Puede que 2744 hayan muerto esta noche ¡pero nunca nos detendremos! Texas ha jodido a los padres equivocados”. Después de todavía otro baleo masivo — recién ahora en mayo de 2023— el senador estatal de Texas Roland Gutiérrez, demócrata, cuyo distrito comprende Uvalde, criticó a los políticos que se niegan a promulgar una reforma de armas declarando en twitter: “Hay un lugar especial en el infierno para las personas que ven que esto sucede y deciden hacer nada...”

A veces, el arte y la música captan un sentimiento que la lógica y la razón no pueden. En este sentido, ofrezco una línea que puede capturar el sentimiento de Gutiérrez de una ranchera de José Alfredo Jiménez que reza “Pero se sentía el ambiente, Muy cerquita del infierno”.