Tim Ryan spearheading a ‘caravan’ from Ohio to Kentucky in march for gun control

The caravan, which is co-sponsored by the gun control group Moms Demand Action, began at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday in Ryan’s hometown of Niles, Ohio, and will conclude with a rally at City Plaza next to the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville at 7:30 p.m.

Ryan’s caravan and subsequent rally follow two mass shootings over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 dead and dozens more injured.

Democratic lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have compelled McConnell to end the Senate’s August recess and return to Washington, D.C., for a special session to take up two pieces of House-backed legislation aimed at strengthening universal background checks on gun purchases.

More than 200 House Democrats sent a letter to McConnell on Wednesday urging him to take up the bills that the House passed in February. For his part, McConnell has not indicated that he intends to change the current Senate schedule, which prohibits legislative work from taking place until after Labor Day.

“In February, the new Democratic House Majority took swift action to pass these bipartisan bills which not only save lives, but also has the support of more than 90 percent of the American people,” the group wrote. “Since that time, you have allowed more than 150 days to pass and countless lives have been lost including those most recently lost in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois and the many others who will never make the headlines.”

Protesters gathered outside McConnell’s home in Louisville on Monday, chanting for his replacement in Congress while ringing cowbells and banging pots. The Senate majority leader is recovering at home after falling and fracturing his shoulder on Sunday.

The caravan stopped in Dayton, the site of one of Saturday’s shootings where nine people were killed, around noon. The gun control group is currently headed to Louisville for its last stop and rally later this evening.

“This is about getting Mitch McConnell to pass this legislation, and I think when you see Republican Congressman Mike Turner down in Dayton, when you see Republican Governor Mike DeWine in Ohio make significant steps towards trying to make the country safer, you recognize that this is not a Democrat or Republican issue,” Ryan said on CNN. “This is about keeping people safe in the United States.”