- Death isn't something
you prepare for unless
it's something you know is gonna happen.
You never know a school shooting's
gonna happen until it happens.
It's not something you prepare for.
Grief is hard.
Obviously, grief is hard.
But grief is especially hard
when you don't have time to say goodbye.
- On May 24th, 2022,
19 children and two adults
were killed in a mass shooting
at Robb Elementary School
in Uvalde, Texas.
It is the deadliest school shooting
since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
In the United States,
children live in fear of losing their lives
to gun violence.
But citizens to be seem at odds
as calls for gun reform compete
with those who seek to protect
their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Jazmin Cazares' nine-year-old sister, Jackie,
and her 10-year-old cousin,
Annabell Rodriguez,
were both killed during
the Robb Elementary shooting.
As she works to complete
her senior year of high school,
Jazmin has become outspoken about reforming gun laws.
- I didn't really plan on activism.
Most people don't,
especially after something like this.
But I went to a March
for Our Lives event the day after,
what would've been my sister's 10th birthday.
And I was hesitant at first,
but I was like, better now than never.
So that's kind of when it started.
But I think we need a lot more young people
for their voices to be heard,
especially in these days
when it's young people,
people of color, that are being
targeted in our society.
We're a small town,
so it's the type of town
where everybody knows everybody
in some way,
but recently because of the tragedy,
we've been really divided.
A lot of people don't agree
with what we're doing,
and everyone's entitled to their own opinion,
and that's completely okay,
and I understand that,
but some people are unnecessarily rude,
and that's sad to see in your hometown.
Especially, just recently,
one of the dads of the victims,
Brett Cross, he was protesting
with a peaceful protest outside
of central office,
and our whole goal of that
was to get the UCISD police suspended
while the investigation is going on.
And that did happen,
but most people didn't agree
with what we were doing because
they thought we were targeting the superintendent,
and that wasn't our intention.
While it might have looked like that,
and as a result of that,
maybe it wasn't a direct result of that,
but he did choose to retire,
and a lot of people blame us for that.
Also, of course,
we're fighting for gun control,
and a lot of people don't agree with that,
especially in Texas,
especially in a conservative town like ours.
A lot of people don't agree with that.
I fully support
an assault weapons ban,
I think here in Texas at least,
we need to be realistic.
So we're fighting
for raising the age to 21,
but I think we need better background checks.
And I think gun owners, Republicans,
independents, Democrats,
I think we just have to agree
that we don't want any more people to die.
And things like this is a really easy fix.
Jackie was the type of kid
that wanted to be grown.
You know those type of kids?
They just want to be adults so fast.
And it's just really sad
that she just wanted to be grown
and never got to get there.
She loved animals.
She wanted to be a veterinarian.
She wanted to go to Paris
for her graduation.
She loved Starbucks,
What kind of nine year old drinks coffee?
But she loves Starbucks.
But she was like,
she's like the definition of a little sister.
She was a brat,
but at the end of the day,
we loved each other,
so it didn't really matter if we fought or not.
One that I talk about a lot is the day before,
actually we were,
I mean, we're always together,
but I think it was just a moment
to cherish 'cause we were all outside.
It was me, the neighbors in front of us.
My cousin lives next door,
so we were all outside
and we had my nephew with us
at the time, we're all playing.
They were throwing around the baseball.
It was kind of it, I mean,
we're all, we're always together,
but we're not outside as often.
I think that's one of the moments
that I cherished the most simply
because it was one of the last ones
and the morning before,
I don't really remember anything.
I didn't have any run-ins with her.
So it was kind of one of the last moments you,
that's why I cherish it so much.
I was always raised
to respect other people's beliefs.
And I do, I believe people
are entitled to their opinion,
but sometimes it's baffling.
It's baffling that people
don't support minimum things
like raising the age.
I think that's so minimum.
Especially seeing things on social media,
seeing all these shootings.
I don't know how people don't wanna fight
for something like this,
but that's the world we live in.
I've been doing lockdown drills
since I was seven.
It's been 10 years
that I've been scared for my life in school.
10 years.
Even as a child,
I knew the potential dangers of going to school
and in a society like this, that's disgusting.
That's disgusting.
And voting for people
that are going to make sure kids
don't have to be scared at schools
anymore is absolutely vital this election.
- It's devastating that incidents
of mass shooting
and other forms of gun violence
have become the norm in the US,
but it doesn't have to be this way.
People like Jazmin
who have been impacted by gun violence
aren't the only ones who can make a difference.
By supporting elected officials
who are working to affect change
at the local, state, and federal levels,
we can help move the needle
toward a safer tomorrow.
Visit Vote.org for voter registration
and polling information.
Make your mark by ensuring your voice is heard.
The time is now.