BOSTON - Gun reform advocates and gun owners alike gathered at the State House Tuesday to testify on 56 different gun reform bills in front of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

One of the people to give testimony in favor of reforms was Westborough resident Ilyse Levine-Kanji.

"I’ve been a vocal gun safety advocate since 1993 when a man with a duffel bag full of guns, including military style assault weapons, walked into a San Francisco office building and took the elevator to the 34th floor to a law office and randomly started shooting," Levine-Kanji said during her testimony.

Levine-Kanji was on vacation in 1993 when the gunman opened fire on her coworkers, killing her boss and a client. Now 30 years later, she still finds herself hyper vigilant, always worrying about her safety. 

But, she chooses to use the experience to work towards change.

"Our legal community and did a lot of advocacy after that shooting and we helped pass the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that unfortunately was allowed to expire in 2004," Levine- Kanji said. "It showed me that advocacy can work, that if a group of people pull together and make their voices heard, change can happen."

Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League said the bills up for discussion are focused on the wrong things. He said crime is a huge problem, but complex gun laws don’t stop criminals from breaking the law.

Wallace said such laws do prohibit lawful gun owners from protecting themselves.

"I understand they want to be safe but putting restrictions on us, we aren’t a threat," he said. "We never have been a threat. The threats are out there. Let's work together to go get them and deal with it."

House leaders introduced aggressive gun reform earlier this fall, but Wallace and other gun owners said they didn’t feel heard when it was introduced. Wallace said this time, he feels like the joint committee was at least listening.