Group of Texas doctors calling for stricter gun control laws

SAN ANTONIO - Doctors are calling for change to stop gun violence.

Since the start of 2023 there have been more than three dozen mass shootings in the US.

It's a fight Lori Rocha will never give up on.

“We need that someone being held accountable and that's part of our healing journey,” Lori said.

Rocha's son Aaron was killed in 2016 in a possible road rage shooting. No one has ever been arrested.

“[Aaron] was coming home from an innocent night out like we all do, you know, a day dinner, whatever and he was shot by someone full of hate and rage on this street right here,” Lori said.

She said Aaron's death left a lasting impact.

“It affects everyone from the youngest in the family to the oldest and it's still to this day,” Lori said.

It's a topic Texas doctors are trying to tackle at Thursday night's public health forum.

“Every day, there are shootings in Texas,” Dr. Jaime Estrada said.

As President and Board Chair of Texas Doctors for Social Responsibility and the Co-Chair for the Texas Chapter of the National Hispanic Medical Association Dr. Estrada said now is the time to talk about the impact gun violence has on everyone.

“Gun violence is a permanent adverse childhood event in that it affects the life of children, you know, for the rest of their lives and the families also,” Dr. Estrada said.

He supports raising the age to buy a weapon to 25 and strengthening both background checks and red flag laws.

Dr. Gilberto Arbelaez is all too familiar with the toll of gun violence.

He was working the day of the mass shooting that killed 21 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.

“That day we really wanted to see as many patients as possible. You’ll never hear an ER say that. We surpassed that golden hour and I really just became more and more stressed and anguished,” Dr. Arbelaez said.

He adds the mass shooting continues to impact Uvalde and hopes talking about the tragedy will help inspire change.

It's change this San Antonio mother hopes will help save lives.

“I'll never give up,” Lori said.

One group of people Dr. Estrada said they are appealing to is lawmakers.

He adds they wanted to focus on gun violence in this year's forum because of Uvalde and knowing state and federal lawmakers are back in session.