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Andrew Goddard has been working to prevent gun violence in Virginia since his son Colin was wounded at Virginia Tech. He says he was incredibly proud when Vice President Joe Biden recognized his son at the Washington ceremony Wednesday.
"And when I asked Colin what he thought we should be doing," Biden said, "he said I'm not here because of what happened to me. I'm here because what happened to me keeps happening to other people."
Andrew Goddard expects a fight in Congress, but says the executive orders President Obama signed at the ceremony represent a step forward.
"You know you've got some gun stuff. You've got some mental health stuff. You've got some school policy stuff," Goddard told WDBJ7. "So I think some of them are long overdue, and some of them will correct problems that have existed way too long."
We found more skepticism at the State Capitol, among Republican lawmakers who question the effectiveness of the gun control measures included in the President's proposal.
Delegate Todd Gilbert (R Woodstock) is the Deputy Majority Leader. "We want to focus on doing things that will actually make our children and the schools that they attend safer," Gilbert told us, "and not go off into areas that may not actually accomplish that, but may feel good, may satisfy some emotional need, but may not at the end of the day make our children any safer."
The debate is heating up in Washington, and here at the State Capitol.
A number of gun bills come up for committee votes this week in the General Assembly.
And advocates on both sides of the gun debate will rally in Capitol Square on Monday.