Washington, DC – Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) and a group of his colleagues welcomed Team 26, a team of 26 gun violence prevention advocates, to Washington, D.C., today at the completion of their 400-mile bicycle journey from Newtown, Conn. Himes rode with the cyclists on the first leg of their trip from Newtown to Ridgefield.
At a press conference on the Front Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this afternoon, Himes called on Congress to take up sensible legislation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill while preserving Americans’ Second Amendment rights:
“There is nothing more fundamental for this government, for all of us as a community, for us as parents, than to ask the question: can we keep each other safe? As a parent – we’ve got a lot of parents here – can we keep our children safe? The answer to that question has got to be yes,” said Himes. “In any rational world, we wouldn’t spend a lot of time, we wouldn’t need to ride 400 miles, we wouldn’t need to mount a massive legislative effort to make that question be answered with an unequivocal yes, but that’s not the world we live in. There is no right so absolute that we should answer that question with anything other than yes.”
Click here to watch Himes’ remarks. A full transcript follows this release.
The Sandy Hook Ride on Washington intends to memorialize those killed at the Sandy Hook School by raising awareness about the need for gun violence prevention legislation. Three members of Team 26 are from Newtown, including Monte Frank, Bill Muzzio, and Chris Peck. Two of the riders have children who went to the Sandy Hook School and the team included parents, teachers, a Newtown police officer and a Vietnam veteran.
“It was the privilege of my week and my year to do the first 25 miles with this crew from Newtown to Ridgefield, and it was enormously enlightening because they’re moms, they’re dads, they’re folks that just said in the face of this unspeakable tragedy, ‘there’s got to be something I can do to lend my voice and to add my effort to do the things that we have been talking about this afternoon.’
“There is nothing more fundamental for this government, for all of us as a community, for us as parents, than to ask the question: can we keep each other safe? As a parent – we’ve got a lot of parents here – can we keep our children safe? The answer to that question has got to be yes. In any rational world, we wouldn’t spend a lot of time, we wouldn’t need to ride 400 miles, we wouldn’t need to mount a massive legislative effort to make that question be answered with an unequivocal yes, but that’s not the world we live in. There is no right so absolute that we should answer that question with anything other than yes. There is no political risk that any one of us would bear that we shouldn’t answer that question with a clear yes.
“And of course these 26 folks behind us did something unbelievable: four hundred miles. Having done the first 25 and having been grateful I didn’t have to go onto 26, I can tell you how big an accomplishment that was. They inspire us to answer that question: yes. It’s a long journey. It shouldn’t be, but it’s a long journey and thank you for reminding us of the perseverance, the stubbornness, and the ‘stick-to-it-iveness’ that is going to make our people and our children safe.”