Washington - One by one, the demonstrators lay down, invoking three minutes of silence to remember those who lost their lives at Virginia Tech.

As the Blacksburg campus memorializes their loss on Thursday, gun control advocates in the District held a protest of measures they say make tragedies like the one at Virginia Tech possible.

Virginia Tech graduate Greg O'Brien watched the tragedy unfold two years ago. "I have so many great memories about Virginia Tech," O'Brien said. "It was horrible to have to see such a bad thing happen to such a great community."

Today he joined 21 others to make a statement. They oppose the sacrifice of D.C.'s gun regulations for the sake of a District vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ladd Everett of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said, "The kind of terror that Virginia Tech felt sadly is a is a terror that is sadly felt every day in this city because of illegal guns that are brought across our borders from other states."

Lily Habtu promotes the same message. She survived the rampage on the campus with two gunshot wounds. "As long as I live, it's kind of hard to be reminded -- I got a second chance." Habtu hopes to prevent more gun deaths.

"Not just prevent what happened at Virginia Tech, but to have some influence on how guns are being handled throughout the country, specifically here in the District where it affects us directly."

The demonstration on Freedom Plaza was just one of many held across the country Thursday, including at Virginia Tech. The idea originated with a mother in Alexandria (web | news) .

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