The hearing came as lawmakers faced pressure to act after the horrific massacre in Texas and the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in a neighborhood with mostly blacks.
Here are some of the highlights of Wednesday’s hearing on gun violence convened by the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform Committee:
In a pre-recorded video, 11-year-old Mia Serilo, a fourth-grader at Rob Elementary School in Uwalde, described what it was like to survive the mass shooting. It was a rare time for Congress to hear testimony from a young man like Serilo on such a sensitive and troubling subject as gun violence.
In the recorded recording, Serilo said he wanted “security” and was afraid of surviving another shooting at school.
She described trying to hide behind her teacher’s desk and said the gunman “said good night to my teacher and shot her in the head.” Serilo said he thought the gunman would return to the room and described being covered in blood in an attempt to survive. “I put it everywhere,” she said.
Miguel Serillo, Mia’s father, became emotional when he said the shooting changed his daughter.
“I’m coming today because I could lose my baby girl,” he said. “She’s not the same little girl I used to play with, run around and do everything because she was my dad’s little girl.”
“I want something to change not only for our children, but for every child in the world, because schools are no longer safe,” he said. “Something really needs to change.”
Family members of the victims of the shooting are asking for control of the weapon
Several family members of victims of gun violence testified during the hearing and called for gun control action in a direct appeal to lawmakers.
Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Lexi Rubio, a 10-year-old child killed in a massacre at a school in Uwalde, testified during the hearing, and Kimberly outlined a list of demands for specific weapons policies they want to see introduced.
“Today we stand up for Lexi and like her voice we demand action,” Kimberly said.
Here is what she called for:
- “We are looking for a ban on high-capacity vending machines and magazines. We understand that for some reason, for some people, for people with money, for people who fund political campaigns, weapons are more important than children. So at this point, we demand progress. “
- “We are striving to raise the age of purchase for these weapons from 18 to 21.”
- “We are looking for red flag laws, tighter checks on the past.”
- “We also want to lift the immunity from liability of arms manufacturers.”
Zenet Everhart, the mother of Zaire Goodman, a survivor of the Buffalo supermarket shooting, also called on lawmakers to take legislative action.
“Lawmakers who constantly allow these mass shootings to continue without adopting stricter gun laws must be voted on,” she said in her testimony.
“As an elected official, it is your duty to draft legislation that protects Zaire and all children and citizens in that country,” she said.
Witnesses describe first-hand the horrors of gun violence
A number of witnesses at the hearing gave first-hand descriptions of the appalling reality – and the consequences – of gun violence.
Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician, described witnessing what he called the “massacre in my hometown of Uwalde.” Guerrero – who said he had lived in Uwalde all his life and treated children in the community before the massacre – said he “ran” to Uwalde Memorial Hospital on the day of the mass shooting. “I will never forget what I saw that day,” he said. He described in graphic detail the horrors he saw, including children whose bodies were so brutalized by gun violence, “that the only clue to their identities was the blood-spattered cartoon clothes that still clung to them.”
Everhart, Zaire Goodman’s mother, described her sons’ injuries in detail.
“My son Zaire has a hole on the right side of his neck, two on his back and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15. As I clean his wounds, I feel bits of that bullet in his back. The shrapnel will remain in his body for the rest of his life, “she said.
In a passionate message to lawmakers, she said: “If, after hearing from me and other people testifying here today, he does not urge you to act on gun laws, I invite you to my home to help me clean up Zaire’s wounds. to see up close the damage done to my son and my community. ”
The mother of the Buffalo shooting survivor: “This is us as a nation”
Everhart highlighted gun violence and racism in America in his testimony as he discussed the Buffalo supermarket shooting, which the Justice Department is investigating as a hate crime and an “act of racially motivated violent extremism.”
“America is violent by nature. This is us as a nation,” she said. “The very existence of this country is based on violence, hatred and racism, with the near destruction of my brothers and sisters. My ancestors, brought to America through the slave trade, were America’s first currency. Let me say this again about the people behind: My ancestors, America’s first currency, were deprived of their heritage and culture, separated from their families, traded on auction blocks, sold, beaten, raped and lynched. And yet I keep hearing after every mass shooting that this is not us as Americans and as a nation. Listen to me clearly: this is exactly us. ”
In the arms debate, there are still entrenched guerrilla divisions
Evidence of an established guerrilla divide in the arms policy debate was fully demonstrated during the hearing, as Democrats called for tighter gun control while Republicans lifted restrictions.
House of Representatives overseer chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, called for tighter gun control at the start of the hearing.
“Our witnesses have suffered pain and loss today, but they are showing incredible courage in coming here to ask us to do our job. “Let’s hear their voices, let’s honor their courage, let’s find the same courage to pass the laws of common sense to protect our children,” she said.
“No civilian needs an assault rifle, and the Second Amendment does not protect the right to bear arms. “It is time to ban assault rifles from our streets, from our communities, from our homes,” she said.
Kentucky spokesman James Comer, the commission’s top Republican, said during the hearing that “hesitant reactions to the imposition of gun control policies that seek to limit our constitutional right to bear arms are not the answer.”
“We must congratulate all law-abiding gun owners who safely use, store and carry these firearms.
Maloney later replied: “I support the Second Amendment. I support law-abiding gun owners. I do not support weak gun laws that allow weapons to fall into the hands of criminals and unstable people. “
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