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Diana Flores, a Dallas College board trustee, couldn’t hold back her tears as she recalled how she felt when she first learned of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde.
“We can’t continue to lose our children,” Flores said.
Flores was one of the guest speakers at a Día de los Muertos event at the Dallas College Mountain View Campus Tuesday evening, when she and Democratic politicians gathered to honor the 21 people who were killed in the Uvalde massacre in May. They also urged people to vote for elected officials who support what they described as common sense gun laws.
Tuesday was the first day of the annual Día de los Muertos, which is celebrated by people of Mexican heritage and, according to Mexican tradition, is when deceased children return to their homes to visit their families and consume the offering that has been placed for them on ofrendas, altars that are built in their memory.
Similar events, organized in part by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, were also held in the Texas cities of Austin, Brownsville, Houston, Pasadena and San Antonio.
As a mother of five and a grandmother to 19, Flores said she wanted to use her voice to speak out against inaction.
Rochelle Garza, the Democratic challenger to Attorney General Ken Paxton in the upcoming midterm election, told attendees of the event that, if elected, she would use the power of her office to ensure that Texans are protected from gun violence.
Requiring licenses for every gun purchase and universal background checks were among the policies that Garza said she would advocate for. She said she would also push for safe storage laws, closing gun show loopholes and raising the minimum age for buying assault rifles from 18 to 21.
“I know Texans, we have a strong relationship with firearms, guns and hunting; it’s part of our culture,” Garza said. “But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about basic safety measures. I think that we can all agree that we should strike balance between the right to bear arms and the right to protect our community.”
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Ana-María Ramos, who is running for reelection in Texas House District 102, said she thinks the race for governor and attorney general are crucial for changing gun laws that she deems threatening to public safety. Her state house district encompasses Richardson and parts of Dallas.
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough, we know that and we must prevent future tragedies from happening,” Ramos said.
As part of the event, 21 people — each representing a person slain during the Robb Elementary School shooting — read aloud the names and ages of those who were killed. They laid down a white rose in front of an ofrenda that honored the 19 students and the two teachers who were killed in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Ashley Flores, who is a family member of Ramos, was one of the 21 people who read names and held white roses during the event. Her four children were also part of the flower ceremony.
Flores, who has children that are currently in elementary school, said the Uvalde shooting added more meaning to this year’s Día de los Muertos.
“It’s pretty deep to know that if that can happen in an elementary school, that it can happen anywhere,” Flores said.
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Anna Salazar, who teaches U.S. history in Dallas ISD, said the threat of a school campus shooting is something that haunts her daily. As someone who teaches history, she said it’s important to consider the role of elected leaders in the face of tragedies like the Robb Elementary School shooting.
“We want to see action from our lawmakers,” said Salazar, who also participated in the flower ceremony, “When we go to the polls we are voting like our lives depend on it.”
Ronnie Mestas, who lives in West Dallas, said he is an independent voter. He said public safety and gun law reform are among the issues that he cares about most in the upcoming election.
Mestas, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, said he supports raising the minimum age for buying assault rifles, though he did not agree with all of the policies that were highlighted by politicians at the event Tuesday evening.
“It’s sad,” Mestas said. “As a veteran, you’ve gone overseas to protect the country and you come back and we’re killing ourselves.”