Twenty-six cyclists who set out from Newtown Saturday are headed to Washington, D.C. They’re riding to honor those lost at Sandy Hook, and to raise awareness about gun violence prevention.
Its the third year that Team 26 has made the ride. Speaking Monday from a stop in Pennsylvania, team leader Monte Frank said the group is calling for measures that many gun owners and a majority of Americans support.
"Ninety-one percent of Americans want background checks, and yet Congress failed to act," Frank said. "We all want to stop the illegal trafficking of firearms across state lines, and the elimination of straw purchases with real penalties for it. That will save lives not only in places like Newtown, Connecticut, but also in Harlem, in Hartford, and Bridgeport."
Gun manufacturers have opposed background checks, and the NRA has warned that penalties on straw purchases could end up punishing the wrong people.
But Cyclist Monte Frank, who lives in Sandy Hook, said these are common sense ideas that would allow children to grow up, safer.
"My daughter’s third grade teacher was Vicki Soto, one of the teachers who was murdered," Frank said. "My friends and neighbors lost children. And the community as a whole is still struggling through the ripple effect of what occurred at Sandy Hook school."
There will be two rallies Wednesday as the Team 26 cyclists arrive in Washington. The first will take place in southeast Washington, a community riddled by gun violence; and another at the Capitol, hosted by Eleanor Holmes Norton.
