Parents of children who were killed or injured in the mass shootings last month in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde (Texas) urged members of Congress to quickly take action on gun control.
"If hearing from me and other witnesses today doesn't move you to take action on gun laws, then I invite you into my home to help clean Zaire's wounds, so that you can see up close the damage done to my son, my community," Zeneta Everhart, mother to Zaire Goodman and a survivor in the Buffalo shooting.
Ten people were killed and three others were injured in the shooting at a Buffalo grocery shop. The shooting at a Uvalde elementary school resulted in 17 injuries and 21 deaths, including 19 children.
Kimberly Rubio and Felix Rubio were parents to Lexi Rubio who was killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. They called for bans on assault rifles and high capacity magazines, and for the age limit to purchase assault weapons to be raised from 18 to 21. These policy suggestions are similar to President Biden's list.
Miah Cerrillo was a fourth-grade student at Robb Elementary School. She testified to members in a prerecorded audio that she used blood from a friend to pretend to be dead and called 911 to get help. She expressed concern that another incident could occur.
She said, "He shot my friend Elizabeth. I thought he was going back into the room so i grabbed the blood from him and put it all over me." Miah's father, who testified personally, asked for action to protect children in schools and noted how difficult it had been for his family ever since the shooting.
And Dr. Roy Guerrero was the president of Uvalde Memorial Hospital. He recalled his experiences at the hospital while children were being transferred and parents needed answers.
He said, "I raced to get to the hospital to locate parents outside screaming their children's names in desperate need and sobbing as they begged me for any news about their child." "Those mothers' cries will never leave my head," he said.
Lucretia Hughes, a witness from the DC Project and Women for Gun Rights, argued that more laws won't make a difference in reducing gun violence rates.
Hughes, who was the mother of a teenage boy who died in a gun-related accident, said that "Y'all are delusional" if they think it will keep them safe. "At Women for Gun Rights we believe education is the key to safety and not ineffective legislation."
The last few days have seen members of Congress listening to the testimony of victims of recent mass shootings. The hearing took place as House members were expected to vote Wednesday afternoon on a package that would increase federal gun regulations. The Senate will vote on the House measures, despite parents' calls for action. Instead, lawmakers in that chamber will continue to negotiate on a limited set of proposals.
Despite the fact that proposals are unlikely to pass both chambers, lawmakers in both houses of Congress are continuing to talk despite this.
NPR's Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is on the Judiciary committee that advanced the House bills, stated, "We aren't going to give up our policy power or responsibility to the Senate." "We are going to legislate in such a way that it meets the gravity and immensity of the problem. ... We'll accept the Senate's return with something less than the original, but that will be part of the process."
After Wednesday's testimony in the House, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told reporters that he hopes that an agreement can be reached despite ideological divisions.
NPR told him that there is always hope. "And maybe, hearing this testimony, some of my coworkers will actually do right by me."
