The mother of a Uvalde victim says she waited 13 hours to demand lawmakers limit gun sales: 'Did you think we'd go home?'

• The mother of a Uvalde victim waited 13 hours to demand stricter gun laws.
• Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed in the mass shooting, says the delay reminded her of waiting to learn if her daughter had been killed.

The mother of a young Uvalde school shooting victim said she was forced to wait 13 hours to testify in favor of stricter gun laws, chastizing Texas lawmakers for the delay.

"Did you think we'd go home?" asked Kimberly Rubio through tears.

Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed in the attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead, said the wait to testify reminded her of waiting to hear if her daughter had survived.

The bill, H.B. 2744, would make it illegal to sell, rent, or lease a semiautomatic rifle to anyone younger than 21 years old, according to The Texas Tribune.

The Texas House has yet to vote on the legislation.

During her testimony, Rubio asked if the lawmakers watched coverage of the shooting, and urged them to consider what it would be like to suffer her loss as they cast their vote on the legislation.

"Did you imagine what it would feel like to bury your child?" she asked. "Sit with that image as we do because only when you imagine will you as lawmakers take the necessary action, including voting for [this bill]."

Another parent, Nikki Cross, mother of Uziyah Garcia, said she was upset that children are having to go through active shooter drills as politicians do nothing to solve the problem of mass gun violence, according to CBS Austin.

"I don't want any more children to hide under their desks in fear," Garcia said. "I don't want any more teachers to worry about how they're going to protect several students at once when they're just one person."

Texas has the highest number of deaths linked to firearms in the country. There were 4,613 firearm-related deaths in the state in 2021, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Editor's Note: This story has been refocused around the testimony of the parents of children who died in the Uvalde shooting.