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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Virginia Tech survivor fights to limit gun rights

Colin Goddard, a survivor of the 2007 mass shooting at Virgina Tech, and Omar Samaha, brother of victim Reema Samaha, responded to questions from moderator Luke Russert, an NBC correspondent, Monday night at a screening of 'Living For 32' in the Marvin Center. Ashley Lucas | Hatchet Staff Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Chloe Sorvino

Colin Goddard travels the country talking about the worst day of his life.

The 26-year-old is the narrator of “Living For 32,” a film that details Goddard’s French class at Virgina Tech on April 16, 2007 when six of his classmates and his professor were shot. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, took his own life while Goddard was in the room.

Because of his experience, Goddard has committed himself to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit that lobbies for the enforcement of gun license background checks.

“I want to see an America where people aren’t worried about getting shot walking down the street or in French class,” Goddard said to a crowd of nearly 100 in the Marvin Center on Monday night.

Attendees were largely comprised of lobbyists with the Brady Campaign, with a handful of students. The screening was part of a nationwide campaign, spanning 47 colleges, that commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. GW’s event was moderated by NBC correspondent Luke Russert.

“If you allow the citizen population to own guns, people are going to die,” Goddard said.

At the end of the event, the lights turned off and mechanical candles light up the space. Goddard invited those personally affected by gun violence to remember the victims. One by one, nearly the entire audience stood up and said the name of who they were remembering.

Earlier Monday, the lobby group held a press conference outlining a proposed bill tightening gun laws and on Tuesday they will petition and speak with representatives at the Capitol.

“Federal law only goes so far, but one of our objectives is to expand federal law to the extent states have gone,” Goddard said.

The campaign is named for the 32 people who die each day in America from gun violence – the same number of deaths from the Virginia Tech shooting.

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