UNC-Chapel Hill's Young Democrats and Students Demand Action groups held a rally Wednesday afternoon, calling for increased gun regulation. It came after a faculty member was shot and killed on campus Monday, resulting in a roughly three-hour lockdown.
At the hour-long campus rally, student activists spoke to a crowd of over 100 people. They condemned and mourned the death of science professor Zijie Yan in Monday's shooting.
“We can't even make it a full two weeks without gun violence wreaking havoc on our campus,” said Mitchell Pinsky, a UNC graduate student and member of Students Demand Action. “There is nothing normal about being forced to grow up living in fear of gun violence wherever we go about our daily lives.”
State politicians and activists, such as March For Our Lives founder David Hogg, encouraged the sizable crowd to vote for candidates who support tougher gun laws and put pressure on representatives to pass more restrictive gun measures.
“We will next be in session at the North Carolina General Assembly the week of September 11,” said state Sen. Graig Meyer, a Democrat from Orange County. “I would like to see you there.”
Earlier this year, the Republican-led legislature overrode the Governor's veto on a controversial gun-related bill that repealed a permit requirement to purchase concealed guns—a move that the crowd at Wednesday's rally booed.
Junior Kyle Lumsden, who spoke at the event, said the shooting left her feeling isolated. But upon leaving the rally, she felt empowered.
“There has to be acknowledgement of the mental health and the trauma that follows after events like this,” Lumsden said. “I hope people give themselves grace. It’s not a linear process of healing.”
Meanwhile, in a statement issued following the shooting, House Speaker Tim Moore said he was “heartbroken” as the situation was unfolding. He joined the rest of the UNC campus community in grieving the “innocent loss of one of our own,” he added. Moore, a Republican, is a UNC alum.
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the permit requirement that was changed was to purchase a handgun.