Virgina Tech University Students Protesting Gun Laws

October 15, 2007 4:34 p.m. EST

Charlottesville, NC (AHN) - University of Virginia and Virginia Tech students will be honoring their fallen students Tuesday on the six-month anniversary of the tragic shooting at that school. Residents of it still mourning community are demanding action on our country's lax gun laws. On Tuesday at 5 pm, they will stage a demonstration to urge that more action be taken to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

In Charlottesville, 32 protesters will lie down to symbolize the 32 people murdered with guns every day in the U.S. and the 32 people murdered at Virginia Tech in April.

Dillon Hauptfuhrer, the principal organizer of the demonstration said, "I am organizing this protest in support of so many people who have lost their lives needlessly because of unnecessary gun violence."

"I am motivated to do this because of seeing how close to home a tragedy like this can hit, and knowing that it is a reality we can no longer ignore. This protest asks citizens and government officials to step up and make safer gun laws that will better protect ordinary citizens - who should be able to live their lives, go to school, and pursue their dreams without fear," he added.

"This protest should be seen as a starting point or initiation into advocacy on gun safety issues," said Andy Goddard, whose son Colin was wounded at Virginia Tech. "What is needed is concerted action to convince our lawmakers that this is a significant problem that can be addressed."

"I am attending this lie-in in honor of my sister, Reema and the rest of the amazing and talented people slain at Virginia Tech," said Randa Samaha, the sister of Reema Samaha, who died at Virginia Tech.

"Federal and state governments should be proactive in closing mental health and gun show loopholes. There may be a cost to doing so, but it is a small price to pay compared to the lives of our sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and other valuable members of society," Samaha said.

Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter killed 32 people and wounded many more, before committing suicide, making it the deadliest school shooting in U.S. History. Cho, was a senior English major at Virginia Tech. The troubled student who videotaped himself admonishing hate towards his peers had been diagnosed with and treated for a severe anxiety disorder beginning in middle school, and he continued receiving therapy and special education support until his junior year of high school.

While in college in 2005, Cho had been accused of stalking two female students and was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice. At least one professor had asked him to seek counseling.