The Daily Collegian

Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Brian Tedder/Collegian [Click to enlarge]

Three minutes was all the time some University of Massachusetts students needed to make a strong statement.

Yesterday, about 32 students from UMass, Amherst and Hampshire College participated in a "lie-in" outside the Student Union to remember the Virginia Tech shooting and protest easy gun access.

"Whether you knew someone or not at Virginia Tech … it is the most devastating thing to happen on a campus," said event organizer and UMass sophomore Maha Mudawar.

The demonstration consisted of students dressed in black with orange and maroon ribbons around their necks lying on the pavement for three minutes - the amount of time it took for Seung-Hui Cho to buy weapons.

While students lay like corpses on the sidewalk, Mudawar spoke to students and passers-by. She read a letter from a mother of a Virginia Tech victim and spoke about a gun show loophole that doesn't require background checks on buyers.

"It's a scary thought that guns are so accessible," said Mudawar in a statement. "It worries me to think that this could happen on our own college campus."

Among the demonstrators was one UMass student who had a close friend who was a victim of the shooting. According to Mudawar, many of her friends were present at the event, to show solidarity and support.

"When [the shooting] happened I remember it devastated our entire campus," said Mudawar. "The campus should always stand together and stand tall."

Mudawar organized the event entirely through Facebook.com and connected with Abigail Spangler, founder of ProtestEasyGuns.com, a grassroots organization created in response to Virginia Tech. Spangler provided Mudawar with ribbons, stickers, protest materials (called "protest in a box") and contacts to be able to hold yesterday's event.

Spangler began organizing similar "lie-ins" last year and Mudawar felt compelled to participate.

"It brought people together, people that I know and some that I don't, and I can say I was a part of something," she said. "I received letters from parents saying thank you for all the support. It makes what you're doing so much more important."

The UMass protest is one of 80 "lie-in" demonstrations across the nation. Each includes 32 community members to symbolize the number of teachers and students murdered at Virginia Tech and the number of people killed by firearms every day in the United States.

"We are not against hunters, guns for private protection or collectors of guns," says the organization's Web site. "We are for background checks for gun purchases and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, dangerous individuals, and people not capable of handling a gun responsibly."

Kate Olesin can be reached at kolesin@dailycollegian.com

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