SXSW panellists say the only solution to school safety is to tackle gun policy and mental health, not one or the other.

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On Thursday, Kimberly Mata-Rubio sat in front of a crowd at the Austin Convention Center, hands clasped tightly to tell the story of the darkest day of her life, when she learned her daughter was one of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalda.

The crowd listened intently as she described the scenes of chaos and disorder that surrounded the day when 19 students, including her 10-year-old daughter, and two teachers were killed by gunmen in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

“The days after were just filled with questions. How did this happen to her? How did this happen to me? How did this happen to us?” Mata Rubio said, her voice trembling with excitement.

Mata-Rubio was one of three keynote speakers at the SXSW School Safety Panel, held in partnership with The Texas Tribune, which raised questions about gun policy, social media and mental health amid the tragic May 24 school shooting.

Nine months ago, she found herself part of an ever-growing community of parents who lost their children in a school shooting.

“It was comforting to meet them in some way. There is no judgment and they share the pain and understand,” Mata-Rubio said of meeting other parents whose children died in a school shooting. “It’s also terrible because they are a mirror of my future and there is still so much pain in them. That you’ll never get better. That you will walk around with this pain until your time is up and you are reunited with your loved one again.”

Odis Johnson Jr., executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, and Nick Allen, professor at the University of Oregon and director of the Center for Digital Mental Health, have both spoken about the need to change gun policy before trying to address the mental health issue.

“Very often, mental health is used as an alternative to gun safety policy, but these things have to work together,” Allen said.

There have been at least 19 mass shootings in the state over the past six decades, killing about 200 people and injuring more than 230.

However, state leaders have repeatedly voted against measures that would restrict access to guns, opting instead to loosen restrictions on carrying them in public while making it harder for local governments to regulate them.

“Across the country, there are thousands of laws that restrict the possession or use of firearms, laws that don’t stop crazy people from committing atrocities against innocent people,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a pre-recorded speech to the National Rifle Service. Association just three days after the Uvalde shooting.

But on Wednesday, senators passed their first bill in this legislative session, one that would close a loophole in state law that allows guns to be sold to people who were involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness between the ages of 16 and 18. The mass shooting in Uvald had not previously been hospitalized, but he had a history of mental illness.

The term “victim’s right” was used several times during Thursday’s discussion to describe the mindset of some school shooters.

“Often a person has the feeling that he owed or deserved something from life that he did not receive,” Allen explained.

Allen said that many men who fit this description do not seek psychological help in the first place because they see it as a weakness or a challenge to their masculinity.

“Different types of programs can help that help identify these young people who are isolated and divided. It would also be very good if they did not have access to weapons,” Allen said.

State Republican leaders have focused on mental health and school safety as a political response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, largely resisting gun control measures.

Last year, Texas leaders agreed to release more than $100 million in public funds to strengthen school safety and mental health services in the wake of the Uvalda massacre. Nearly half of the money – $50 million – will go towards bulletproof shields for school cops, with another $17.1 million going to school districts to buy silent panic alert technology.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced this week his support for several bills to address school safety gaps, one of which would require school districts to adopt active shooting preparedness plans. The bill would require districts to submit maps of each campus to the Texas Education Agency, provide law enforcement with the ability to conduct a tour of all buildings, and determine the costs needed to meet state safety standards.

“Schools in the top third of the country, in terms of the use of cameras, school inspectors and other security measures, had lower math grades and college acceptance rates than schools. [schools] in the bottom third on safety measures,” Johnson said. “The primary mission of schools is to educate and equip children to be successful, healthy and happy, and what we have done is to redouble efforts on surveillance technology that undermines that mission. Students shouldn’t feel like suspects.”

All three speakers agreed that for real change to take place, the issue of arms reform must be addressed in the political arena.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed the first major gun safety bill passed by Congress in nearly 30 years. The legislation includes incentives for states to pass so-called red flag laws, which allow groups to petition the courts to remove weapons from people who are considered a threat to themselves or others.

“The legislation was a turning point. This is not what we need, but the basis is there. The main components are already ready, ”said Johnson to the applause of the audience. “The problem was that for a long time we lacked the political will to do this, and the only solution to this problem is a political solution.”

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