Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin issued a plea after Thursday’s shooting that left five people dead.

What You Need To Know

Rep. Ted Budd voted against bipartisan gun safety bill 

Cheri Beasley wants to keep combat-style guns off street, doesn't specify whether she supports ban 

N.C. District 13 candidates differ on how on gun safety

“We have to end this mindless gun violence that is happening in our country,” she said.

The sentiment was echoed by Gov. Roy Cooper, and Friday President Joe Biden went a step further, doubling-down on his pleas for a ban on military-style, semi-automatic weapons. 

This summer, Biden signed the first significant gun safety law in decades.

The legislation included funding for increased mental health programs in schools, closed a loophole that allowed some domestic abusers to buy guns and toughened requirements for young people to buy guns.

Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr of North Carolina voted for the bill.

But the Republican looking to replace Burr, Rep. Ted Budd, who owns a gun business, voted against the bill. He said at the time it will have the “unintended effect of infringing on the due process rights of law-abiding citizens.”

His Democratic opponent, Cheri Beasley, supports the legislation. She also says on her website she wants to keep combat-style weapons off streets, but she doesn’t specify whether she supports a ban on those guns.

The candidates running in the closely watched 13th Congressional District, just south of Raleigh where the shooting occurred, also have differing views.

Democrat Wiley Nickel supports universal background checks and a ban on military-style weapons.

"I think this is a great set of issues on the federal level, one set of rules,” he told Spectrum News 1 in an interview before the shooting occurred. “I’m never going to talk about taking guns from folks, but there’s so much we can do to end gun violence."

His opponent, Republican Bo Hines says he is as “pro-gun as it gets" on his website.

"I really don’t believe in any restrictions on the Second Amendment,” he said in a interview with Spectrum News 1 before the shooting occurred. "My main purpose in Congress would be to be able to defend themselves with their Second Amendment."