EL PASO, Texas (KTEP) - A yellow converted school bus turned cross-country vehicle arrived in El Paso on a hot afternoon.
On the side of the bus, it said “Stop Gun Violence.”
Inside, parents who lost children in mass shootings in Texas and Florida rode the vehicle from Uvalde where a gun control rally was held the day before. They along with other advocates made a stop in Central El Paso for a similar event outside Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center on Wednesday.
It’s all part of an effort called “Guac’s Magical Tour,” led by Patricia and Manuel Oliver. Their son Joaquin, also lovingly known as “Guac,” was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In the attack, 17 people were killed, most were students.
Manuel and Patricia initiated the tour in memory of their son. He would have turned 23 this August.
Their mission is to push for state and federal policymakers to draft gun safety laws. They’re visiting cities that have also experienced a mass shooting, hoping to convince voters to hold elected officials accountable for not addressing gun violence.
It was their fourth day in Texas after also visiting Santa Fe and Austin. The Olivers left Florida last week.
“Since we left Parkland, there’s been other shootings,” Manuel Oliver said. “So, we could be riding this thing forever.”
The Olivers were joined by Brett Cross and Rhonda Hart.
Cross spoke about Uziyah Garcia, his 10-year-old son who was killed in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting last year. 19 children and two teachers were killed in the attack.
Hart wore a pin of her 14-year-old daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, who was killed in the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018. Ten people were killed, including eight students.
He said if Texas lawmakers had raised the age for residents to purchase guns from 18 to 21 before the attack in Uvalde, his son would still be alive.
“Nothing that we do will ever bring our kids back,” Cross said. “But we can help prevent another parent from having to be in our shoes because I guarantee you, this is the worst feeling. You don’t come back from this. Nobody here who has lost a kid is the same person they were the day before or the moments before they lost their child.”
Hart has worked for five years pushing for universal background checks on firearm purchases, safe storage definitions and other gun-control related laws. And, she’s seen success in federal and state legislation.
Though the “raise the age” bill ultimately stalled, it did advance through the House Select Committee on Community Safety to the full chamber, she added. And, there’s been progress on the promotion of safe gun storage.
“It really gives you a lot of hope and it feels like ‘OK, at least a little bit of what I am doing is working,” she said. “And, we are very slowly moving that needle.”
Hart, however, said she fears another tragic school shooting will happen in Texas while lawmakers stall on gun control legislation.
“I feel there’s a lot more momentum and I also feel this survivor group is going to keep getting bigger and bigger,” she said.
The families were welcomed by several dozen El Pasoans, including activists, elected and former office holders. El Paso County commissioner Iliana Holguin spoke as did former Democratic Gubernatorial candidate and El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke. Former City Council representatives Lily Limon and Eddie Holguin also attended.
O’Rourke said Republican leadership in Texas including Governor Greg Abbott, lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dade Phelan and some Democrats have failed to advance legislation that would address gun violence despite mass shootings in the state.
“We have cowards in positions of public trust,” O’Rourke said. “People who know that 23 beautiful human beings were slaughtered in this community on the third of August 2019, in all the time since then, have not done a single thing to make it any less likely that it will happen again.”
Before departing, the Olivers had a gift to leave in El Paso. It was an engraving with a picture of their son with a quote. “The moment we forget or ignore injustice, we become part of the problem,” it says.
Manuel Oliver said there are about 40 more days worth of stops to make. The tour is looking to reach a total of 23 cities including Las Vegas, Columbine, Louisville and Sandy Hook.
He said he anticipates there’ll be a “tipping point” for Americans who continue to watch more of their countrymen die from gun violence.
“We’ll see something. There’s only a certain level of tolerance in all of this,” he said. “And, I think we’re reaching that.”
