The road-rage shooting death of a 19-year-old Chinese student at Arizona State University has sparked a range of reactions from her peers, with several calling for stricter gun regulations – and others planning to go out and purchase guns themselves.

The death of Jiang Yue, who was shot by another driver on Saturday after a traffic collision in Tempe, Ariz., follows several other high-profile shooting deaths of Chinese students in the U.S. in recent years. It also comes as the U.S. is in the midst of a heated debate over gun control. President Obama earlier this month announced new executive actions aimed at tightening firearms rules amid a tide of mass shootings.

On Monday, about 300 students gathered in Tempe at a memorial for Ms. Jiang. Elaine Du, a junior majoring in accounting at ASU who lives 2 blocks away from the site of the shooting, was not among them. Shocked by the news of how Ms. Jiang was killed, Ms. Du said she couldn’t help but replay the scene in her mind.

“If it hadn’t been a gun on that scene, Jiang Yue may be still alive,” she told China Real Time by phone. “Guns are different from knives. Guns work from a long distance and can catch you unprepared. If you get shot in the head, you die.”

Ms. Du added that she would support efforts to tighten U.S. gun laws. “If given the right to vote, I’d definitely vote for it,” she said. “But Chinese students are a less privileged group; we have no spokesperson.”

While some of their American peers may possess a firearm for self-protection, gun culture is largely absent among Chinese students on campus, several students said.

“99% of Chinese students have never considered buying a gun to protect themselves; only a few have one that they use for hobbies like shooting or hunting,” said William Zhu, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at ASU (ASU-CSSA).

In the days since the shooting, gun control has become a major topic of debate among Chinese students on social media, and some have been circulating how-to guides on legally possessing and using a gun in the U.S.

Chen Tengfei, a Ph.D. student in environmental engineering at ASU, told China Real Time he plans to buy a gun partly because he thinks it’s hard to tell whether passers-by on the street are trustworthy. He added that even in light of recent protests calling for stricter firearms measures, he believes tighter gun limits are currently impossible in the U.S. given that the majority of the American public opposes such a move.

Others, such as ASU student Duan Hu, are calling on their classmates schoolmates to think twice before rushing out to buy a gun. Mr. Duan, a biochemical engineering Ph.D. at ASU who has lived in America for 7 years, has co-authored a set of safety guidelines on firearm ownership for Chinese students which will be shared at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Don’t buy a gun out of panic,” the Chinese-language document urges students. “Guns are for self-protection, but they may bring you more danger until you truly grasp how to use them. Please look into reading materials about gun safety first.”

Mr. Duan told China Real Time that he wrote the document – which includes other campus safety recommendations -- in part because he was alarmed by the danger posed by Chinese people setting foot on the uncharted territory of gun ownership in the U.S.

“Some Chinese thought they were familiar with guns as they’ve seen them in action films many times,” Mr. Duan said. “It’s not buying an ice cream. A gun brings you a tremendous psychological burden, and you need to consult with family members and friends (before buying one).”

At Wednesday’s press conference, the Tempe and ASU police departments and the ASU-CSSA plan to discuss details of the case and emphasize that the shooting was a random occurrence rather than the calculated murder of a Chinese student, Mr. Zhu of the ASU-CSSA said.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it has dispatched staff in the U.S. to follow the case and has asked Washington to protect the safety of Chinese citizens. Chinese diplomats will also provide assistance to the victim's family members as they travel to the U.S., foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

The shooting has also sparked frustration among some of the more than 360,000 Chinese students at U.S. universities regarding their limited options in the gun control debate.

“Opinions like, ‘If everyone has a gun, we can rely on violence to limit violence’ are ridiculous,” said Li Shang, a computer engineering student at the University of Maryland who is also a gun amateur. “But the Republican Party, which opposes gun control, dominates Congress while we have no right to vote. The only way for us to contribute might be to send letters to the local congressman.”

At dusk on Saturday, Ms. Du, who lives near the shooting site, drove out to buy vegetables as usual at a market near campus. As she drove down her usual route, she passed by the spot of the shooting, which was still littered with automobile wreckage.

At the site, several Chinese people were standing in silence, and memorial cards were surrounded by white chrysanthemums, colorful snacks, and candles glittering in the twilight. “Rest In Peace. To the Chinese girl, Jiang Yue,” the cards read.

Ms. Du took pictures and posted them on her Weibo social media account. “Hope the you of yesterday is not the me of tomorrow,” she wrote in a post that received more than 4,000 “likes.”

Responded one of her fellow users: “Buy yourself a gun overseas -- for your kid and yourself.”

--Chang Chen