AKRON, Ohio -- Three-dozen gun control advocates took to the streets of Akron on Saturday to voice their opposition to Ohio's existing gun laws.

The advocates, who were not representing any particular organization, held signs demanding changes ranging from stricter background checks to an outright ban on the open or concealed carry of guns in Ohio.

The city of Akron was abuzz several weeks ago after Daniel Kovacevic, 25, was spotted walking with a rifle on his back near the University of Akron. Ohio law, while requiring a license for carrying concealed weapons, allows citizens to carry firearms openly without a license.

Organizer Robert Grow, a Fairlawn resident who has been a gun-control advocate for approximately 10 years, said he believes citizens should only buy guns for hunting. Even those guns should be non-lethal, he said.

"The problem is the law," Grow said. "The problem is that the government is influenced by the gun industry."

Several counter-activists spoke in favor of the open and concealed carry laws, including a group of four men with muskets. The men, who simply wished the gun control activists a "Merry Christmas" when they passed, said they wanted to point out that the Second Amendment applies to all guns, not just the muskets that were common when the amendment was written.

"Gun owners are not bad people," said Anthony Tilson of Barberton. "Liberals like to believe that the Second Amendment is just for muskets. It's not."

The gun-control advocates said their primary reason for wanting more restrictions on guns is to reduce gun violence. Others, including Reverend Curtis Walker of Beth-El African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Cleveland, said the government should also conduct stricter background checks on prospective gun buyers. Walker is also a member of the Akron school board.

"We've seen it all around us, and it's touched many of our families," Walker said. "We've all been affected by gun violence."

The walk began shortly after 2 p.m. at the John F. Seiberling Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. The activists walked down to Cedar Street before they turned around and walked to the Akron-Summit County Main Library on South High Street.

The walk happened less than two weeks after members of Ohio Carry, a gun rights education organization, joined Kovacevic for a walk through downtown Akron. An East Exchange Street barbershop owner who confronted Kovacevic two days earlier invited the group to return to his business, and the sides engaged in a lengthy discussion about Ohio's open carry law.