Connecticut's Democratic U.S. senators and a U.S. House representative marked the second anniversary of the Newtown school shooting at the Connecticut Capitol in Hartford Monday.

Nicole Hockley -- whose son, Dylan, was killed in the Newtown school shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 -- joined Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty at the news conference as they pushed for gun-control measures.

Adam Lanza killed 20 first-graders and six adults in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown before killing himself.

Hockely said the goal is to restrict access to guns to people who can use weapons responsibly, and to increase mental-health aid.

"This is going to take time, but it's worth it," said Hockley. "Every day that we proceed is hopefully another life saved."

Hockley declined to comment on the lawsuit that was officially announced Monday against gun manufacturer Bushmaster and others.

Despite the Newtown shooting, a recent Pew poll found that for the first time in at least 20 years more Americans believe it is more important to protect the right to own guns than to control gun ownership.

The survey found that just more than half of Americans, or 52 percent, side with gun rights compared with 46 percent who favor gun control.

Pew said that its survey, conducted earlier this month, also found that well over half of Americans said owning a gun protects people from crime.

Blumenthal plans to go back to Washington wearing a pin labeled with the number of Connecticut residents killed by firearms.