“To live in this country is to be constantly mourning,” Cathy Park Hong expressed this sentiment just ten days ago after 3 Korean women and 10 Black people were shot in two separate hate crimes. Now, this same sentiment can be used again.

After 19 children and 2 adults were murdered just a few days before summer break, so many questions are to be asked: Why is this happening again? How was this already the 27th school shooting from this year alone? What will it take for change to ensure? Will change ever take place?

Will this happen again?

Yes, this will happen again. That is the only answer we can be sure of.

Despite 21 lives being taken in one classroom of an elementary school, hours after an awards ceremony, in the heavily-Latino town of Uvalve, Texas, there seems to be very little potential for massive change. It has been ten years since 26 people were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School and four years since 17 people were murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School, it has been everyday for Americans to be notified of a massacre of friends, relatives, and children. 

So it seems there is no limit to the amount of lives that U.S. legislators and the NRA are willing to kill before any change. In the district of the Uvalve shooting, congressman Tony Gonzales advocated for pro-gun legislation.

This is Tony Gonzales, who represents the district that contains the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that just got shot up. pic.twitter.com/imRGq3Y8Nn

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) May 24, 2022

While guns outnumber people, there is still a fight to put more in classrooms. While guns contribute to more lethal suicide attempts, there are those insistent on keeping them in their homes. While people continue to die: children screaming for their parents, parents screaming for their children, our country continues to force them to grieve alone.

Xavier Lopez was 10 years old and in 4th grade, his mother saw him just an hour or two before at a school awards ceremony.

Uziyah Garcia was 10 years old and in 4th grade. His grandfather, Manny Renfro, calls him, “The sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known.”

Eva Mireles was a fourth-grade teacher who was shot while protecting her students. She was a mother and a wife at 44 years of age.

Nevaeh Bravo was in 4th grade.

Irma Garcia was a fourth-grade student in her 23rd year of teaching, killed while protecting her students. She leaves behind her spouse of 24 years and four children.

Amerie Jo Garza was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Maite Yuleana Rodriguez was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Makenna Lee Elrod was 10 years old and in 4th grade. Her sister wrote on social media, “hug your loved ones tonight and tell them you love them, you never know when you won’t have the chance to anymore.”

Ellie Garcia was in 4th grade.

Tess Marie Mata was in 4th grade.

Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Rogelio Torres was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Alithia Ramirez was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Jayce Carmelo Luevanos was 10 years old.

Jailah Nicole Silguero was 11 years old.

Miranda Mathis was 11 years old.

Elijah Cruz Torres was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Jose Flores was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

Javier Lopez was 10 years old and loved to dance with his brothers and mom.

Federico Torres is one of many parents still searching for their children: Rojelia Torres.

This thread will be dedicated to the victims of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

As a parent, my heart is broken seeing these faces and their ages.

My condolences to their families during this difficult time 🙏🏻

Xavier Lopez, 10. He was a 4th grader at Robb Elementary. pic.twitter.com/261cSEBFZ3

— Natasha ⚯͛ (@ndelriego) May 25, 2022