Two young lives lost, dozens injured: Will JD Vance turn families’ pleas into policy?

One week after gunfire shattered the first Mass of the school year at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, grief remains raw, and so does the demand for change. Vice President J.D.

Vance, himself a Catholic convert, walked through the sanctuary where two children were killed and 21 others injured. The words chalked on the church steps, “God Heals The Broken Hearted” and “Show Love”, mirrored the emotions of a community unwilling to let another mass shooting fade into memory. The Associated Press reported that Vance and his wife, Usha, met privately with the parents of the two children who died, Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, as well as families of those injured.

They later laid bouquets at a memorial outside the church, before heading to Children’s Hospital to meet survivors still in recovery.

Parents plead for action

For many families, the meeting was not only about grief but also a plea. Harry Kaiser, a gym teacher whose daughter Lydia is recovering from surgery, read from a letter urging Vance to look beyond partisan divides. “We disagree about so many things,” he told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “But on just this one issue of gun violence, will you please promise me, as a father and a Catholic, that you will earnestly support the study of what is wrong with our culture, that we are the country that has the worst mass shooter problem?” Lydia’s mother, Leah, echoed the call with a proverb cited in the days after the attack: “When you pray, move your feet.”

Her message was pointed: Prayers are not enough, and leaders must act.

Vance avoids questions on gun laws

Outside, community members held signs demanding bans on assault weapons. One read, “Pro-Life = Pro-Gun Safety.” Another invoked Pope Leo’s appeal: “Listen to the Pope, End the Pandemic of Arms.” But when asked about Governor Tim Walz’s plan to call a special legislative session on school and gun safety, Vance declined to comment. “I would just say, take the concerns of these parents seriously,” he told reporters, as quoted by the Associated Press. “Hopefully there’s some steps that we can take to make that happen.” His words underscored the tension: Families asking for urgency, politicians deferring specifics.

The children at the center

Among those injured, 10-year-old Weston Halsne underwent surgery to remove a bullet fragment from his neck. According to his family’s statement, cited by the Associated Press, “the procedure went well, and Weston is expected to make a full physical recovery.” He recounted ducking for cover during the chaos: “My friend Victor, like, saved me though because he laid on top of me.

But he got hit.” Meanwhile, grief is preparing for ritual. Fletcher Merkel’s funeral is scheduled for Sunday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. Harper Moyski’s family has yet to announce arrangements.

Beyond politics, an open question

For parents like Kacie Sharpe, whose son Trip sat near Fletcher when he was killed, the tragedy lays bare a deeper helplessness: “It keeps happening over and over and over, and nothing changes. And it’s the most helpless feeling in the world to know that you can’t send your kids to school and have them be safe,” she told AP. As communities reckon with yet another mass shooting, the pressure on leaders is unmistakable. AP reported that the Vances spent nearly two hours inside Annunciation Catholic Church, listening, praying, grieving. What remains unanswered is whether that grief will translate into policy, or whether these parents’ pleas will fade into yet another cycle of mourning.