Friday, June 14th marks the six-month anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of 26 victims in Newtown, Connecticut. On Friday, family members of victims, elected officials, faith leaders, and other community members will join together in Newtown for a day of remembrance and a call to action.
From Newtown, Mayors Against Illegal Guns will officially launch its “No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence” tour. The tour will go to 25 states around the nation. At each stop on the tour, gun violence survivors, mayors, law enforcement, faith leaders, university presidents, concerned community members and others will rally in support of gun violence prevention efforts and to urge their representatives in Washington to support background checks that will reduce gun violence.
Every day, 33 Americans are murdered with guns in this country. This past April, a minority of U.S. senators voted to block bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey that would have helped keep guns out of the hands of criminals by requiring background checks for commercial gun sales. Recent independent polls have found that more than 90 percent of Americans support background checks for all gun sales.
Jillian and Carlee Soto, whose sister Victoria was one of the Sandy Hook teachers killed in the shooting, talks to us about what the six-month anniversary means to them. They also talk about what they hope the “No More Names” tour will do to increase gun control in the U.S.
Learn more at demandaction.org.