The call for action following the massacre in Newtown has energized both gun rights supporters and gun control advocates.

“Most of the people that I've come in contact with, I don't consider them the least bit threatening. They're law abiding citizens,” said Bob Turkovich, owner of Cove Creek Outfitters in Bedford.

“It seems like there should be some way to make guns harder to get for people. But I don't think they should be totally banned,” said Dawn Nasewicz, whose son was gunned down in Johnstown 12 years ago.

“We're not safe anywhere. We need to keep ourselves safe,” said Denny Nau, sheriff of Centre County.

“If the goal is to reduce firearm homicides, which we have about 11,000 a year, then an assault weapons ban probably won't impact that number,” said Greg Ridgeway of the National Institute of Justice. 

If anyone would support gun control, you would think the mother of a son murdered for no reason would. But while Nasewicz has some concerns, she does not support a gun ban.

“I don't think people need to have some of guns they do,” she said. “Like why do people need assault rifles? If they wanna have a handgun or a rifle, that's their business.” 

Jeff Eisaman is a professional who trains people how to properly use guns.

“I'm a firm believer in training,” he said. “I believe you have a right to own a firearm. In Pennsylvania, it's your responsibility as a gun owner to get training."

Responsibility? Maybe. But it's not a requirement.

Eisaman knows that a gun, any gun, in the wrong hands for the wrong reason can lead to dangerous, deadly consequences.

Bob Turkovich is in the business of selling guns, so it's not surprising he supports gun rights.

But he said it's not just because of his career.

“They're [gun owners] just expressing their right to protect themselves and I don't have a problem with that whatsoever.”

A national group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns recently produced a television commercial featuring people who fell victim to gun violence demanding action.

State College mayor Elizabeth Goreham is a member of that organization. 

She said the mayors support the second amendment and the rights of citizens to own legal guns. She said her town is a safe place to live. She called it a town based on quality and fairness; a place where everybody knows everybody else.

She acknowledged it's a place very much like Newtown. 

“We're not in la la land where we say, this is a safe place, we don't need to worry,” she said. “We need to be concerned and deal with this properly.” 

Incidentally, under current law, a person with a conceal carry permit can walk right into the State College municipal building, where Goreham works, armed with a gun.

“We don't expect people to come in here with a weapon. We do not expect people to come in here with a weapon,” she said. 

But they can. So does that mean more laws should be passed to prevent that?

Turkovich doesn't think so.

“There's 9,000 gun laws on the books in some form,” he said. “Putting another law in place doesn't really help if you can't follow through on the law that's already on the books.”

The gun debate will continue. And so will the hard and fast truth that gun violence is personal. Very personal.

“Just hours before it happened, he was at home,” Nasewicz said, recalling the night her son was murdered. “I just hugged him and told him that I loved him. That's all I could say. Just that I love him.”

Most of the people interviewed for this report support gun rights. It's hard to find people in this part of Pennsylvania who do not. Millions of Americans belong to and support the NRA. Many of those people vote, which will likely make it difficult to get any kind of meaningful change in gun laws passed in congress. 

The gun fight debate is not likely to change much, if at all.

Unless there's another Newtown.