Rep. Mike Thompson hosts Santa Rosa vigil honoring gun violence victims in wake of Texas mass shooting

One week after 21 people were gunned down inside a classroom in Uvalde, Texas, scores of Sonoma County residents rallied to demand a solution to the nation’s gun violence crisis.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in Santa Rosa to honor the victims of all the gun violence that has occurred in the country.

Dozens of people attended because they’re sad for the Uvalde victims, Thompson said. They’re sad that guns have been used daily to take lives. They're sad that partisanship has stood in the way of solutions.

“We’ve all had enough and 150 people came out (Tuesday) and they all agree,” Thompson said after the vigil.

On May 24, gunfire rang out inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, claiming the lives of 19 children and two teachers. The shooter, an 18-year-old man armed with an AR-15- style rifle, was fatally shot by authorities.

It is the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since 2012 when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Santa Rosa resident Stephanie Manieri, 26, held back tears Tuesday night as she explained the toll recent events have taken on children, in particular those in Santa Rosa.

In her work as a Santa Rosa City Schools trustee and director of programs for Latino Service Providers, she interacts with children who suffer from anxiety.

“Young people are just not OK right now,” Manieri said.

She added that her 4-year-old nephew is afraid to go to school and that she struggles to find the right thing to say to him.

The latest shooting initially reignited calls for national gun control, but the issue soon dissolved into political discourse that did little in reaching any lasting solutions.

Authorities are now investigating Uvalde law enforcement and whether officers should have entered the school sooner than they did in order to save those in danger.

Thompson, whose district includes Santa Rosa, is chair of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. For years he pushed for background checks legislation.

In the aftermath of last week’s latest massacre, he emphasized “thoughts and prayers” were useless and chastised lawmakers who’ve failed to act as mass shootings become more commonplace in the U.S.

On Tuesday, Thompson said that in the coming days lawmakers are scheduled to discuss a number of bills targeting gun violence.

Proposed legislation includes raising the minimum age of those who seek to buy guns, requiring guns be stored safely and prohibiting high-capacity magazines.

His comments received cheers from the audience, which included people carrying signs critical of conservatives and the National Rifle Association.

Thompson called gun violence an “epidemic” and said guns are the country’s No. 1 killer of children. He expressed frustration over the frequency of mass shootings in the nation.

“We’ve been through this so many times. It seems like there’s a mass shooting every day,” Thompson told attendees.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi