In this paper we prove some one-level density results for the low-lying zeros of families of quadratic and quartic Hecke $L$-functions of the Gaussian field. As corollaries, we deduce that at least 94.27% and 5%, respectively, of the members of the quadratic family and the quartic family do not vanish at the central point.

We show that if the zeros of an automorphic $L$-function are weighted by the central value of the $L$-function or a quadratic imaginary base change, then for certain families of holomorphic GL(2) newforms, it has the effect of changing the distribution type of low-lying zeros from orthogonal to symplectic, for test functions whose Fourier transforms have sufficiently restricted support. However, if the $L$-value is twisted by a nontrivial quadratic character, the distribution type remains orthogonal. The proofs involve two vertical equidistribution results for Hecke eigenvalues weighted by central twisted $L$-values. One of these is due to Feigon and Whitehouse, and the other is new and involves an asymmetric probability measure that has not appeared in previous equidistribution results for GL(2).