Pure Rant

Today my 5th graders had their graduation. Seated on the stage I sat looking into the audience at this happy occasion. Smiling faces of proud moms, dads and grandparents. I also saw a different sight...our school police were on campus patrolling inside and outside the auditorium. Every campus in our district had active monitoring. My heart just sank. At the start of the ceremony we stood in silence with broken hearts remembering our fellow Texans who senselessly and tragically lost their lives in Uvalde.

Babies...just babies... gunned down in what should be a safe place. Teachers dying while trying to protect their kids. We just went through the terroristic act of people being targeted while shopping in a Buffalo grocery store. Oh. My. Lord. Enough.

I am a Texan who grew up around guns. I was taught at an early age not only to respect them but to go through safety training to be a responsible gun user and owner. I believe in our right to bear arms. I don't believe in assault weapons and I don't believe in someone being able to walk in and buy two AR Rifles just after his 18th birthday. I do believe in extensive background checks and longer wait periods for any weapon. We are very broken in this country. Broken in so many ways.

There has been far too much bloodshed of innocent lives. No other country experiences what we do at such alarming and horrific rates of occurrences as what we witness. Enough. We have to do so much better. What is the answer? I don't know but "this" is not working.

May God bless and embrace the broken hearted in the community of Uvalde.