With the Lincoln Memorial in the background, Brian LePage of the Hampton, Va., Police Division, right, comforts Becky Steger of Paducah, Ky., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001, at the completion of the Ride Against Violent Crime.

WASHINGTON (AP) - School shooting survivors from across the nation biked to the Lincoln Memorial to rally against gun violence on Tuesday, just before classes start in one of the most dangerous times of the school year.

"I think it's society," said Evan Todd, 18, who was wounded in the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado. "We stand here and say we need to solve the problem, but we don't understand that it's us causing it."

Politically mixed, group members said the nation needs reasonable gun-control laws, emphasis on family values at home and strong programs to help troubled kids in school.

The 190-mile journey from Hampton, Va., to Washington was organized by the Alliance for Justice, to coincide with the start of the school calendar.

Most school homicides happen at the beginning of semesters, mainly because of stress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a study released last week.

One homicide happens for about every four days in February, one for about every six days in September. Homicides are least likely in December and June.

"We need to let people know that our kids are dying. Violence is everywhere," said the rally's organizer, Sandra McSweeney of Hampton, whose daughter was shot in March. "What a parent goes through - no words can explain."

Tears mixed with sweat, the 15 cyclers embraced in front of the Lincoln Memorial. They wore T-shirts saying "People Pedaling Peace ... Not Violence."

Among the group was Sabrina Steger from Paducah, Ky., whose daughter, Kayce, was killed during a school shooting in 1997.

"We are average families who have been thrown very suddenly into abnormal situations," she said. "I want to keep other families from seeing their daughter in a casket. Nothing ever looks the same or feels the same after that."

Students from Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore., where two students were killed and 25 were wounded in 1998, were also at the rally.