Cary mass shooting survivor, elected officials discuss gun bill proposal in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Tucked away in a room in the John P. "Top" Greene Community Center in Raleigh on Wednesday evening were dozens of community members, elected officials, and supporters of a proposed gun bill.

Kim Yaman was among those in attendance.

The Cary resident was on the campus of the University of Iowa in 1991 when Gang Lu shot and killed 6 people on campus in a mass shooting.

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Yaman was an adult learner at the time and was on campus with her children. They all survived.

"I can still hear the sounds," Yaman sound.

She and others were at the community center pushing for passage of H.R. 8 - the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.

A summary of the bill reads, the act "would require a background check on every gun sale or transfer, with carefully defined exceptions for gifts to family members, hunting, target shooting, and self-defense."

Lawmakers said the bill is common sense.

"I am more optimistic than I was several years ago," said North Carolina Democratic Senator Floyd McKissick Jr.

The nearly hour-long discussion kicked off with an introduction from U.S. Congressman David Price.

Price told those in attendance the bill should have little to no resistance in the House of Representatives.

However, Republican buy-in would be very much needed in the Senate where Democrats would have to garner 60 votes.

Raleigh is one of several cities on a national tour aimed at getting the attention of lawmakers.

The town hall was organized by Giffords, March For Our Lives, the Town Hall Project, and Levi Strauss & Co.