The protests will occur at least 80 times in 33 states, each an attempt to shed light on gun laws protesters say are too lax. But the choice of day -- one year after a mentally ill gunman killed 32 people on the idyllic Virginia Tech campus -- is a matter of some disagreement.

Locally, lie-ins are scheduled at noon at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. Other lie-ins are planned at 10:30 a.m. at Winston-Salem State University and at noon at UNC-Wilmington and UNC-Charlotte.

The lie-ins are the creation of Charlotte native Abby Spangler, a 42-year-old mother of two living in Washington, D.C. They take specific aim at a lack of laws regulating the sale of weapons at gun shows.

But gun advocates say Spangler's protests are misguided and insulting, linked as they are to the first anniversary of the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.