Triangle mom, daughter head to D.C. for March for Our Lives

UNC-Chapel Hill professor Aimee McHale and her 16-year-old daughter, Caroline Watson, boarded a plane for Washington D.C. Friday morning.

"As a mom, I'm happy to be able to bring my daughter from Chapel Hill to our nation's Capitol to march in favor of something that is really important to us - the safety and security of kids in particular," McHale said.

The public health professor views the nation's gun debate through a different lens.

PHOTOS: March for Our Lives all over the world

"I'm looking at this as a public health issue. Gun violence kills more than 30,000 people every year and we don't do anything about it."

Daughter Caroline, a sophomore at Carrboro High School, plans her voice is heard despite being too young to use it at the ballot box.

March for Our Lives: What to know about the student-led event on March 24

"I think we're going to be able to make history and I'm going to be able to tell my grandkids how I marched on Washington for gun control," Watson said.

She sees Carrboro High School, and other schools across the country, as a safe space.

"I hate how my mother has to worry about me going to school because she doesn't know if I'm going to get shot."

Friday afternoon, the mother-daughter duo, drove to northern Virginia's Dulles Airport to pick up McHale's niece who flew in from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

"I think we all have a right to go to school and feel safe there," said Nicole Wayling. She considers herself lucky to attend school in Canada where the experience is vastly different than Watson. "It's amazing to see this movement."

The three plan to arrive at the rally early Saturday morning in hopes of getting a good spot. Saturday temperatures are expected to be in the 40's. "I think we're going to bundle up in layers," McHale said. "Put on our various sweaters with 'Enough is Enough'...and just come out here."

Organizers expect over half a million people to attend Saturday's march in Washington D.C. where the US Capitol will serve as a backdrop for the day's artists and speakers. "I think it's beautiful that all these kids have a shared value for life, which is such a basic right to all gather together in a place that has so much history," Watson said. "It's amazing that we can all come together for this one common goal."