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A new move by Texas schools takes the state's and the country's gun violence crisis to a whole new dystopian level.
Texas school are now sending students' parents DNA kits so that they can identify students' bodies "in case of emergency."
The law passed the state's Senate last year, nearly a full year before May's horrific school shooting in Uvalde, the second-deadliest in America's all too long history of school shootings.
The move has shocked and enraged many who feel the move is just yet another effort by the state's heavily Republican government, politicians and Governor Greg Abbott to dodge meaningful action on gun violence and gun safety.
\u201c\u201cYeah! Awesome! Let\u2019s identify kids after they\u2019ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered,\u201d @BCross052422, whose 10-year-old son Uziyah Garcia was killed in the Uvalde shooting, said on Twitter. https://t.co/kmkOQLyQFo\u201d— TODAY (@TODAY) 1666190647
The law mandating the Texas Education Agency to "provide identification kits to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for distribution to the parent or legal custodian of certain students," was passed last year in the wake of a shooting at a school in Santa Fe, Texas in which eight students and two teachers were killed.
It requires schools to provide ink-free fingerprint and DNA identification cards to parents of all students in kindergarten through sixth grade that can be stored at home by parents. Parents are not required to use the kits.
The move comes just months after the shooting in Uvalde, after which many of the young victims were unidentifiable due to the extent of the injuries they sustained in the shooting. DNA swabs had to be provided by parents to positively confirm identity for some victims.
The move has left many Texas parents outraged. One of them, combat veteran and former FBI and CIA agent Tracy Walder, spoke to TODAY about receiving the kits, calling the move "beyond comprehension."
"I worry every single day when I send my kid to school."
"Now we're giving parents DNA kits so that when their child is killed with the same weapon of war I had when I was in Afghanistan, parents can use them to identify them?"
Walder went on to say that the kits send a clear message: The Texas government intends to do nothing about gun violence, no matter how damaging it may be to the state's children.
"This sends two messages: The first is that the government is not going to do anything to solve the problem. This is their way of telling us that."
"The second is that us parents are now forced to have conversations with our kids that they may not be emotionally ready for. My daughter is 7. What do I tell her?"
Another parent, Brent Cross, whose 10-year-old son was murdered at Uvalde, was a bit more pointed in his criticism. He tweeted:
"Yeah! Awesome! Let’s identify kids after they’ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered."
"It’s like wiping your a** before you take a sh*t."
Texas parent Wendi Aarons was even more to the point about how the DNA kits make her feel.
"It makes me physically sick."
Many on Twitter shared these parents' sentiments, as the news left them appalled and infuriated.
\u201cTexas school districts sent a notice to parents that districts will be providing DNA kits so that children can be identified in case of emergency. \n\nGOP won\u2019t pass legislation to protect your kids from guns, but they\u2019ll make it easier to ID their bodies.\n\nThis is America.\u201d— Casey (she/her) (@Casey (she/her)) 1666030735
\u201cThe state of Texas under Abbott has made it more likely that your children will be shot and killed in school. Because of that, they are sending home DNA kits. If this horrifies you as it does me, VOTE FOR @BetoORourke before you have to use one of these kits on your children.\u201d— Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg) 1666264805
\u201cAmerica's obsession with guns is insane. Texas legislature would rather distribute DNA kits to parents and kids (seriously do they IMAGINE THE CONVERSATION WITH YOUR CHILD ABT WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS?) than implement sensible gun laws.\u201d— Sarah Darer Littman Preorder SOME KIND OF HATE (@Sarah Darer Littman Preorder SOME KIND OF HATE) 1666114259
\u201cLet\u2019s talk about DNA identification kits given to parents instead of stricter gun legislation in Texas. Because they don\u2019t have to keep your kids safe\u2026 they just need to be able to identify them when they get shot in the 3rd grade.\u201d— angry buni \ud83e\udd2c (@angry buni \ud83e\udd2c) 1666150745
\u201cI can't get over what Texas is doing. \n\nSending out DNA kits to families to help them identify their children "in emergencies" -- like after bullets have ripped their bodies apart in school shootings -- is not an example of good government or functioning society.\n\nIt's absurdism.\u201d— Walker Bragman (@Walker Bragman) 1666290121
\u201cWhat a society committing suicide to appease the NRA looks like: Texas Republicans send schoolkids home with DNA kits in case their bodies are mangled beyond recognition in a school shooting. https://t.co/zllRie9G8M\u201d— Steve Silberman (@Steve Silberman) 1666198193
\u201cThis is a country where gun manufacturers have won and children have lost. https://t.co/15N9gpCKBt\u201d— Molly Jong-Fast (@Molly Jong-Fast) 1666196211
\u201cGreg Abbott\u2019s solution to gun violence? \n\nSend DNA kits to schools so parents can identify their kids\u2019 bodies AFTER they\u2019ve been shot and killed.\n https://t.co/dtNRlBKqWS\u201d— Gavin Newsom (@Gavin Newsom) 1666016549
\u201cTexas won't do anything to limit access to guns, so it's simply sending out DNA kits instead, so your child can be identified after their face is blown off by a school shooter. Just horrifying, vile governance by Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans.\u201d— Brandon Friedman (@Brandon Friedman) 1666128218
\u201cGun control is out of the question. \nBut sending home DNA kits for identification\u2026that is the move Texas is making. This is beyond horrendous, this is a complete slap in the face to these families.\u201d— Portia J. (@Portia J.) 1666229454
Adding to the absurdity is the law's stated reason for the DNA kits: to “help locate and return a missing or trafficked child.”
Governor Abbott, his Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, both Republican Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and scores of state-level Republican legislators in Texas are all backed by the National Rifle Association, which spends more money lobbying in Texas than any other state in America.