WASHINGTON, D.C. – The August 28th shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill reverberated not just throughout Chapel Hill, but also throughout the country. It even reached those in power on Capitol Hill.
“I was floored,” said Representative Valerie Foushee, a Democrat whose district includes Chapel Hill.
“I was just saddened,” said Congressman Greg Murphy, a Republican representing North Carolina’s coast.
A unified response in their reactions to the deadly shooting on UNC’s campus. But these days in Washington, D.C., the debate into how to react and respond often goes in two different directions.
“If we’re going to settle on guns being the key factor, this tragedy could have happened other ways. This fellow could have had a knife,” Murphy said.
“What do we say about people being able to walk down the street and just shoot indiscriminately,” said Foushee.
And when it comes to actual policy, there is still disagreement, such as over the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022.
The Act expanded background checks for gun buyers under 21, included incentives for states to adopt red flag laws, and increased resources for mental health and school safety
Tony Montalto lobbied hard for it. His daughter Gina was killed in the Parkland shooting along with 16 others in 2018. He is now the president of Stand With Parkland, an organization advocating for more gun control to reduce violence in schools.
“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has Stand with Parkland’s DNA written into it,” Montalto said. “It provides funding through stop school violence grants to secure our campuses around the nation and have school based violence prevention programs. It has dollars for improving mental health screening support programs.
Even though the act was bipartisan, there are still disagreements among politicians. Representative Foushee believes that it didn’t go far enough, while Representative Murphy, believes the act is an infringement on the 2nd Amendment.
“There are still situations where we could do more funding for mental health,” Foushee said. “The background checks, they could be expanded.”
“The problem is when you give government agencies more and more information to get into individuals’ lives and restrict their activities, especially with the 2nd Amendment, it can be really problematic down the road,” Murphy said.
Representative Murphy said that it’s also important for UNC students to be aware of what is happening around them.
“We have to understand that evil does exist. You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings,” Murphy said. “I also believe it’s OK that if you see someone acting in a behavior that isn’t normal perhaps tell somebody about that.”
Representative Foushee said that there needs to be more training for people at UNC.
“Training and education is necessary so that people understand how they manage themselves and how they interact with others when these situations occur,” Foushee said.
Situations that have horrified and forever changed communities across the country – now including the Carolina community.