Photo: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty

Felix and Kimberly Rubio who lost their daughter Lexi during the Robb Elementary School mass shooting embrace as they join activist, family and friends of the victims of the Highland Park and Uvalde mass shooting rallied near the U.S. Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, July 13, 2022.

Mata-Rubio, a local journalist, mother of six, who’s married to a sheriff’s deputy, had tried her best to gather support for DemocratBeto O’Rourke’s gubernatorial campaign, believing he would at last enact sensible gun laws in the state. Finding out that Republican Gov.Greg Abbott— who had signed into law permitless carry and other loose gun measures — won reelection not only in state vote totals,but in Uvalde County, was crushing.

“I wanted to send a message but, instead, the state of Texas sent me a message: my daughter’s murder wasn’t enough,“she tweeted Tuesday night. “Just know, you f—– with the wrong mom. It doesn’t end tonight. I’ll fight until I have nothing left to give. Lexi’s legacy will be change.”

Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto via AP

Kimberly Rubio, mother of 10-year-old Lexi Rubio, who was killed in the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, cries while speaking at a rally near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on September 22, 2022 to urge the Senate to pass a federal ban on assault weapons.

The gunman was a loner who had legally purchased two AR-15-style rifles and ammo immediately after turning 18, the week before the mass killing. Grieving parents wanted answers about the bungled police response and what the state could do to stop future school shootings.

Abbott’s challenger, Beto O’Rourke famouslyinterrupted the governor’s press conferencethe day after the shooting, telling the Republican governor, “you are doing nothing.” O’Rourke also promised the families in Uvalde that if elected governor, he’d act on guns, and made the issue central to his campaign.

Just before the sole political debate between Abbott and O’Rourke,Mata-Rubio spoke for families of Robb Elementary School victims, giving their full support to O’Rourke.

“I’m speaking directly to moms when I say our babies' lives are on the ballot,” she said. “It happened to me, it can happen to you. And this pain, it’ll bring you to your knees.”

Seated next to her husband, Mata-Rubio testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform on June 8th,pleading for stricter gun laws. “Somewhere out there, a mom is hearing our testimony and thinking to herself, ‘I can’t even imagine their pain,’ not knowing that our reality will one day be hers, unless we act now.”

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty

Felix and Kimberly Rubio, parents of 10-year-old Alexandria Rubio who was killed during the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022, hold a photo of their daughter during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on “Examining the Practices and Profits of Gun Manufacturers,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 27, 2022.

Thefirst major federal gun legislationin decades was passed June 25th to expand background checks for purchasers between age 18 and 21, and other reforms.

Mata-Rubio also met former PresidentBill Clintonin Laredo days ago, before election results confirmed Abbott would stay in office. “He encouraged us to keep fighting for change. We assured him we will never stop fighting. We also asked him to thank Hillary for the letter she sent Lexi,“she wrote on Twitter.

For this mom, five months have passed and the pain is still raw. Rubio’s Facebook post on Halloween: “We don’t want to do this without you. None of it. Not Halloween, not Christmas, not birthdays, not Mondays, not Fridays, not life. I realize this world isn’t fair but why does it have to be so cruel?”

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source: people.com