Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

RICHMOND, Va. — As gun rights activists, white nationalists and militia groups prepare to rally at the state Capitol on Monday to protest proposed gun control laws, residents are praying it won’t be a repeat of the violent 2017 rally in Charlottesville that ended in a woman's death.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, which organizes the annual gun rights rally, said it wants a "peaceful event," but the crowd is expected to be larger than usual because Democrats took control of the Legislature last year and are proposing several gun control bills that would limit handgun purchases and require background checks, among other regulations.

The proposals come after a mass shooting in May in Virginia Beach, in which a disgruntled city employee killed 12 people in a municipal building.

“I’m very worried,” Francisca Benavides, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, said.

Benavides, who's studying photography at the 31,000-student public research university, wanted to attend the rally to document it but is having second thoughts after Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency last week in anticipation of the event. He said "credible intelligence" indicated the rally would draw armed militias and hate groups.

“All my friends are trying to convince me not to attend,” Benavides said, adding she was reassured when Northam temporarily banned guns and other weapons from the grounds of the Capitol, and the state Supreme Court struck down the rally organizers' challenge to the order.

"All my friends are trying to convince me not to attend," Virginia Commonwealth University student Francisca Benavides said. Carlos Bernate / for NBC News

But on Thursday, three members of a neo-Nazi group called The Base, which advocates for a white ethno-state, were arrested on the East Coast, and law enforcement officials said they had been planning to attend the rally. The next day, officials announced the arrests of three men from Georgia and one from Wisconsin, all allegedly members of The Base.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

Richmond residents said they were glad to see the men apprehended, but it doesn’t do much to calm their nerves. President Donald Trump’s tweet on Friday, “Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,” was seen by some as a call to join Monday’s rally, further stoking anxieties.

Gabby Safley, a VCU student from Charlottesville who studies history, saw what happened to her city when neo-Nazis marched through the streets and white supremacist James Alex Fields ran over and killed counterprotester Heather Heyer in August 2017. She had friends near Fields’ car when he sped into the crowd, students she mentored were traumatized by the event, and her aunt served on the jury for Field's trial, she said.

Safley fears Monday’s rally will be Charlottesville all over again.

“I’m not surprised it’s happening,” she said, “and it wouldn’t be surprising if it turns into something like Charlottesville.”

A security checkpoint at the Virginia State Capitol grounds ahead of a gun rights rally in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 18, 2020. Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha

She said she will stay away from the Capitol on Monday but is upset by the strong response to what she views as practical gun control measures.

“My family hunts, but I think gun control is necessary,” she said. “You shouldn’t be worried if you’re not doing anything illegal.”

Anthony Berrios, who lives near the Capitol, said he will stay with his girlfriend, who lives in a different part of the city, on Monday. He said the premise behind the rally is misguided.

“It’s a myth that the government is trying to take their guns away,” he said. “I just wish people would really take an objective look at what’s best for society versus what’s good for themselves.”

Just a block from the Capitol, Quisha Jefferson manages a 7-Eleven that's usually open round-the-clock, but she plans to close Sunday night and reopen Monday when calm returns.

“I’m not going to do it,” she said. “We’re going to close. We don’t want to be a part of what’s going on.”

Quisha Jefferson manages a 7-Eleven convenience store that's usually open round-the-clock, but she plans to shut it down Sunday night and reopen Monday when calm returns. Carlos Bernate / for NBC News

Even if she wanted to stay open, it would be difficult for her employees to get to work because road closures forced by the rally will impede bus routes, and they are nervous about showing up for their regular Monday shifts anyway.

“I don’t want to put them in danger, and I don’t want to put myself in danger,” Jefferson said, pointing to the store’s large glass windows that she thinks would be vulnerable to attack. “I’m going to lose a lot of business, but I’d rather my workers be at home, be safe.”

Some Richmond residents, whose jobs are near Capitol Square, said they don’t want to go to work Monday either, but they have no choice. Many area businesses will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but a few retail and service employees whose workplaces will remain open still have to show up.

“We’re terrified,” said one woman, who works nearby and asked not to be named because she feared retribution from her employer.

In Jackson Ward, the city’s historically black neighborhood, Marvin Smith is taking a different approach from that of his neighbors, who are leaving town. The barbershop he owns about a mile north of Capitol Square won't be open, but he will be in his store.

“I’m going to be here for the community,” Smith said. “I want to know what’s going on and be on call.”