NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) — More than 1,000 demonstrators — including nearly 100 from Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage — marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, demanding action to stem the recent wave of mass shootings across the U.S.
The event was organized by several groups — including Moms Demand Action, Everytown For Gun Safety and Mayors Against Illegal Guns — which are all funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire Bloomberg — who was not in attendance — has become one of the nation's most visible gun control advocates and has pumped millions of his own money into the cause. Time reported that Bloomberg "is underwriting" the march.
Hundreds of demonstrators march across the Brooklyn Bridge to call for tougher gun control laws, Saturday, June 14, 2014, in New York. (Image source: APo/John Minchillo)
"I want to see our laws protect our children, not our gun lobbyists," said Andrew Morosky, 48, who lives in Newtown and whose children were friends with some of the 20 students who were killed along with six educators. "After what happened, I felt like I had to do something. I sat on the sidelines for too long."
The rally began in downtown Brooklyn, where many chanted "Not one more" — the cry uttered by Richard Martinez, whose son Christopher was shot to death in Santa Barbara, California, last month.
"We have to stop the madness," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. "Too many people have died, and too many lobbyists have lied."
As the marchers slowly moved across the bridge toward Manhattan, many carried signs that read "Enough is enough" and "Why are our kids dying while Congress does nothing?"
Shannon Watts, who organized Moms Demand Action; Erica Lafferty, whose mother, Dawn Hochspring, was slain at Sandy Hook; and actress Amanda Peet urged the crowd to bombard their elected officials with requests for stricter firearms restrictions. The cheers from crowd, which ended the march with a rally outside City Hall, were occasionally interrupted by shouts about the right to bear arms from a lone counter-protester.
Requests for comment by the National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun rights lobbying group, were not immediately returned.
