Las Vegas Shooting: Virginia Tech Families React To Tragedy

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Virginians marked the 10th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting earlier this year. In light of Sunday's shooting in Las Vegas, families spoke out Monday night at a vigil in Alexandria.

The news of the shooting rendered emotions all too familiar to Virginia Tech. At the time, the April 16, 2007 that killed 32 was the worst mass shooting, but Orlando and now Vegas have surpassed it with at least 59 dead and hundreds more injured.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a gun control group, organized the vigil for the victims and set the stage for an increased push for gun reform.

Watch: The Victims Of The Las Vegas Shooting

Peter Read, the father of Virginia Tech victim Mary Read, said he was astounded that Orlando and now Las Vegas surpassed Virginia Tech as the worst mass shooting. "I wonder how long we as a nation are willing to let it go on," he said at the rally.

The coalition's Virginia director, Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily was injured in the Virginia Tech shooting, echoed the thought to NBC Washington at the rally. "We're too late. We should have been talking about this a long, long time ago," she said.

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The Virginia Tech Victims Family Outreach Foundation is working on a project called Campaign 32. The group wants states to submit to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the names of people legally found to be dangers to themselves or others and involuntarily received psychiatric treatment.

“We don’t know enough about the details of the tragedy in Las Vegas, but it’s clear that it would have prevented the tragedy in Virginia Tech and it may well prevent other tragedies,” Paul Friedman, executive director of the foundation, told WTOP.

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Also attending the Alexandria rally was Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, who had cancelled several gun control campaign events after the Las Vegas shooting. Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Capt. Mark Kelly, who run a gun control group called Americans for Responsible Solutions, were set to campaign for Northam in Alexandria and other spots in Northern Virginia. Northam has pushed for gun control proposals such as universal background checks and a ban on so-called "assault weapons" in his campaign.

"We have to take a step further than our thoughts and prayers," said Northam at the rally. "It is time for all of us to take action, and we should take action not only in memory of these 59 individuals that were killed [Sunday] night but all the other individuals that have been victims of gun violence."

Around 10 p.m. Sunday in Las Vegas, a gunman began opening fire on a 22,000-person crowd that gathered for a Jason Aldean concert. The barrage lasted for about 30 seconds and then there was a pause before the shots started again. People climbed over each other, running for safety as people were shot around them.

The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, had taken up a perch 32 floors above a music festival outside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Just after 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, Paddock, from his room high above where he had arsenal of 23 weapons, began unloading into the crowd below. Paddock shot himself to death before police arrived in his room.

The shooting came as the Republican-controlled Congress was about to take up a bill to roll back restrictions on purchasing gun silencers. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday there are no immediate plans to vote on the Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act, according to CNBC.

Do you agree with those calling for gun control at the Alexandria rally? Let us know in the comments.

Photo by David Becker / Stringer / Getty Images News / Getty Images