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CHICAGO • Aline Stern of Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood found it difficult to send her two children to school on Wednesday, the morning after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Texas, killing 19 children and two adults.

She sensed a fearful tension among many other parents at drop-off as well.

“I think we were all scared,” she said. “We all hugged them a little tighter. School is supposed to be a safe haven for kids. Not a place where you’re afraid.”

Parents, teachers and politicians around the Chicago area spent Wednesday mourning the loss of lives after Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, as well as grappling with the nation’s gun violence crisis.

Meanwhile, politicians again traded barbs over Chicago’s violence, with Republicans repeating the refrain of using the city as a political punching bag to suggest stricter gun control will do nothing to slow the seemingly never-ending heartbreak caused by mass shootings. The city was rocked last weekend by a shooting downtown that left two dead and seven injured.

Politicians in Texas took jabs at calls for more gun control laws by pointing at Chicago. When Uvalde Mayor Don Mclaughlin was asked if he would support requirements such as a license to own a firearm, he said a license wouldn’t have altered the fatal outcome in his city.

“Look at Chicago,” Mclaughlin said. “You can’t even buy a gun in the city of Chicago, but they have shootings every weekend.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also pointed to gun violence in other cities with tighter regulations, including Chicago.

“I hate to say it, but there are more people who are shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas,” Abbott said, according to CNN. “So, you’re looking for a real solution, Chicago teaches that what you’re talking about is not a real solution. Our job is to come up with real solutions that we can implement.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot bristled at Abbott’s comments at a news conference Wednesday.

“Well, there’s probably not anything nice that I can say about the Texas governor,” she said. “This is a man who is determined to be a race to the bottom. He’s obviously trying to burnish his credentials for what was likely a run for president. And he’s doing that, frankly, at the expense of people in that state . ... It’s a long-standing Republican trope to try to put a city like Chicago in their mouths and criticize us. But the fact of the matter is, that guy needs to focus on taking care of business there.”

She added: “It’s not personal between the two of us. I don’t know that guy. And frankly I don’t want to know the guy. What I watched him do is a race to the bottom to try and out-trump his competitors and what he thinks he is going to burnish his candidacy). I think people all over the country can see right through that . ... I’m going to defend my city against attacks from somebody who is a clown like Governor Abbott of Texas, who lies about our city.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker responded on Twitter saying “shame on you,” to the Texas governor, posting a news article showing that most of guns used in Chicago crimes come from outside Illinois.

“You are lying about Chicago and what actually perpetuates gun violence,” Pritzker said. “The majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws. Do better. You have 19 kids and two teachers who deserve our best.”

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly called out Chicago in a similar way, drawing reactions from city leaders.

Days before the elementary school massacre in Texas, a white gunman in body armor fatally shot 10 Black victims at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y. Authorities have described the crime as “racially motivated violent extremism.”

In mid-may, a man with a gun opened fire at a Taiwanese church in California, after chaining the door shut and hiding firebombs inside. One person was killed and five were wounded in the attack, which authorities said was motivated by political hatred for Taiwan.

Stern said she believes “something can be done, but not at our level,” adding that politicians could act to pass more gun control measures and curb violence, but they aren’t willing to do so.

“I feel very helpless as a parent,” she said. “I feel like there is nothing I can do.”

Researchers and experts criticized politicians for flippantly citing Chicago to push back against the premise that certain gun laws and restrictions can contribute to a reduction in firearm deaths and injuries.

Experts pointed out that Texas and Illinois have nearly the same deaths from firearms, with one expert noting that Texas death rate is even slightly higher.