A gun control protest brought proponents on both sides of the debate to Heartland Community College in Normal on Monday. The protest is a prelude to a national walk out on March 14th. Some H.C.C. faculty and students say it's important to take action now.
Armed with neon signs it was hard to miss the messages about gun control from a small group of students and faculty at Heartland Community College on Monday.
"I don't personally own a weapon. I wouldn't have one in my personal life. So the idea of being asked to have one in my professional life is very concerning. I wouldn't feel comfortable. I wouldn't feel like I was the expert in that," said Heartland Community College employee Jenny Crones.
"I'm retired military. I just don't see any place that high velocity or assault weapons have any place in the general public's hands," said Heartland Community College faculty member Mark Finley.
But not everyone attending the protest want to see tougher gun control laws.
"I think that we have the right to own the guns, what guns we want when we want, that says it in the constitution and the bill of rights second amendment and that's the whole argument for everybody," said Heartland Community College student Garrett Conaty.
Faculty member Ericka Hines organized the protest ahead of the national walkout scheduled for March 14th. She also reminded students of their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
"A lot of people didn't vote in the last presidential election, 49 percent and that as a nation is pretty pitiful. I hope a lot of kindness and common sense gun laws come out of it. The world can be a lot more kind and we could be better educated about guns and background checks could be better," she said.
Another national protest will take place March 24th in Washington D.C.