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House Democrats Stage Sit-In
House Democrats are mad as hell and they’re not gonna take it anymore.  They’re tired of innocent men, women and even little children being shot to death at the hands of guns. They’re tired of routine “moments of silence” in honor of the dead, before going right back to business as usual. They’re tired of ineffective gun laws allowing assault weapons to make it into the hands of ordinary civilians — and they’re staging a sit-in to prove it!
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It was a sight to behold.  On Wednesday and only days after 4 gun control measures failed to pass the U.S. Senate, House Democrats blindsided congress by staging a historic protest on the floor of the House of Representatives. At least 60 House Democrats sat down in the middle of the House floor and pushed for a vote on greater gun control.
The group was led by civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who was joined by Kentucky’s Rep. John Yarmuth and Connecticut’s Rep. Joe Courtney.
“We can no longer wait,” Lewis preached from the House floor. “We can no longer be patient. So today, we come to the well of the House to dramatize the need for action. Not next month, not next year, but now — today. Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way.”
“We have been too quiet for too long,” he continued. “There comes a time when you have to say something. You have to make a little noise. You have to move your feet. This is the time.”
Immediately following Lewis’ remarks, other House Democrats took turns speaking in favor of changing the status quo and saving future lives from further gun violence.  The group then chanted “No bill, no break,” promising to delay the congressional recess and remain seated until they are heard.  Some members even took to Twitter using the hashtag #NoBillNoBreak to call attention to their efforts.
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My colleagues & I have had enough. We are sitting-in on the House Floor until we get a vote to address gun violence. https://t.co/rTqrPifuUz
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 22, 2016
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I’m on the House floor with @repjohnlewis & Dems staging a sit-in to demand action on commonsense gun legislation pic.twitter.com/byIivby5gG
— Rep. John Yarmuth (@RepJohnYarmuth) June 22, 2016
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Proud to sit with @RepJoeCourtney and others demanding action. #GoodTrouble #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/SNMWlQ0ZfZ
— Rep. John Yarmuth (@RepJohnYarmuth) June 22, 2016
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#Nomoresilence.@HouseDemocrats are sitting-in to demand an up or down vote on legislation to #EndGunViolence #Enough pic.twitter.com/BxSKCpECze
— Rep. Joe Courtney (@RepJoeCourtney) June 22, 2016
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House Democrats also signed a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, detailing their intentions and urging the Republican leader to “keep the House in session until we have robust debate and votes on expanding background checks and banning the sale of firearms to suspected terrorists.”
“Until then,” the letter read, “we are resolved and committed to speaking out for victims, survivors, and families at home who deserve a vote.”
Speaker Ryan called their efforts “a publicity stunt” and didn’t seem enthused to anger the all-powerful NRA over the whims of House Democrats.
“This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem, this is trying to get attention,” Ryan said.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton offered her full support to the House Democrats, calling their efforts “real leadership.”
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This is what real leadership looks like. https://t.co/4Nh6QpqSxL
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 22, 2016
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President Obama also cheered on Rep. Lewis and his colleagues for daring to take action.
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Thank you John Lewis for leading on gun violence where we need it most. https://t.co/vctfqAH5Wt
— President Obama (@POTUS) June 22, 2016
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By late Wednesday, a contingency of Senate Democrats joined the efforts and threw their support behind their congressional counterparts. Â Some even sat with them on the House floor.
“I think this is truly exceptional, and it reflects the American mood,” Sen. Patty Murphy of Washington said while calling the protest an “unprecedented moment” in legislative history.
“We ultimately got a vote in the Senate, it has led to compromised negotiations that are happening right now that might actually get this done. The only thing we can’t do right now is be silent, and I’m glad that my former colleagues in the House are stepping in a big way.”
Naturally, Republicans were collectively angry at House Democrats for staging the protest, claiming it was a veiled attempt to revoke the 2nd Amendment.
However, Rep. Lewis was not deterred and said he is “convinced” that if a vote on gun control were held on the House floor today, it would pass.
“The American people are sick and tired. More than 85% — some polls are saying more than 90 or 95% — want action. Â Just let the people debate it. Let members of Congress debate it. Members of the House: let’s pass it!”
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Thank you DJ. Your opening paragraph says it all:
House Democrats are mad as hell and they’re not gonna take it anymore. They’re tired of innocent men, women and even little children being shot to death at the hands of guns. They’re tired of routine “moments of silence” in honor of the dead, before going right back to business as usual. They’re tired of ineffective gun laws allowing assault weapons to make it into the hands of ordinary civilians — and they’re staging a sit-in to prove it! […..]
Well it's about d*mn time!
For far too long Pres. Obama and the Dem leadership has allowed Our country to be held hostage by a Republican leadership (and their right-wing cohorts) who have sold their soul to the highest bidder …and has done/and continues to do Our country a great deal of damage.
To not even allow a vote on common-sense gun-control measures…in light of ALL of the gun-related deaths that increases by the hour in this country…is, IMO, pure evil. And I do not engage in hyperbole here. The truth is, except in rare instances when I feel it is absolutely appropriate, I refrain from using the term "evil."
What will be the results of this sit-in? Who knows? But I do know this…(paraphrasing Edmund Burke)…….
"All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."
Finally, the Dems are doing something. And yes…..it IS "a sight to behold."
Rod Dreher, TAC writer:
{Republicans} had better not give in. Look, on gun control matters, I am generally — generally — more sympathetic to Democrats than to Republicans. But this mob insurrection on the House floor is profoundly unsettling. I have not looked closely at the legislation, so it is entirely possible that I might support the Democratic proposal. But to attempt to get one’s way by showing utter contempt for rules of the House? No. No, no, no. Their passion does not justify their behavior. […..]
TAC Reader:
No, Rod, what’s obscene is that after all the slaughter in this country, Democrats had to resort to a filibuster in the Senate just to get the mildest of gun-control bills to a vote, where the various bills were shot down by Republicans.
We have a congressional majority that utterly has prostituted itself to the NRA, as well as to a party base that philosophically is closer to paranoid anarchy than it is anything that resembles historical Republicanism.
And in the House, these same forces likewise prevent the mildest of gun-control measures from coming to a vote. This after incessant slaughter from sea to bloody sea.
You consider the House rules worth a flying flip when the majority party won’t even allow debate on a bill to deny those on terrorist watch lists the ability to buy assault rifles? I suppose, on the same grounds of procedure and decorum, that you also would have excoriated those who participated in lunch-counter sit-ins.
What would you have had Southern blacks do in 1961? Obey the whites-only signs, which the law not only permitted but demanded? Work through proper channels to open up lunch counters to patrons of all races — perhaps by organizing a petition drive or by voting the segregationists out of office?
Oh, wait. Blacks couldn’t vote in the South in 1961. And they wouldn’t be able to until those liberal Yankees in Congress shoved the Voting Rights Act down Southern throats in 1965.
Dude by the name of John Lewis had a lot to do with all that . . . by organizing mass civil disobedience of unjust Southern laws and time-honored Southern procedures.
It would be nice, just once, to see folks who care so much about being “pro-life” give these Democrats credit for at least standing against this one aspect of America’s “culture of death,” no matter how inconsistent that opposition might be with their support of legal abortion. Or is it that important to protect Americans’ constitutional right to own any kind of weapon short of RPG launchers and mortars, because killing people once they get out of the womb is a sacred part of our way of life?
And logically, why draw the line at RPGs, mortars and fully automatic pistols and rifles if it’s true that the Second Amendment guarantees the First? After all, a good guy with a howitzer. . . .[…..]
TAC Reader:
There has been a lot of pent-up frustration among us Progressives regarding how stuck the gun issue has been. The House of Representatives only offers so many ways to raise an issue when one is in the minority. I’ve been watching for a lot of the day, and it’s all about as classy as it can be for it is. I agree with this tactic for this occasion, but obviously it’s not a card that should be played often by either side. Technology will allow it to be a card from now on. [….]
TAC Reader:
This is what happens when the House leadership allows how many dozen completely futile votes to the Affordable Care Act (talk about cheap, if somewhat more polite, theatrics!) but will not allow a vote on legislation that I would guess is supported by 80% or more of the public because of its subservience to the NRA.
Of all the things I find “profoundly disturbing” about what goes on in the House and Senate, this does not crack the top 10.
Let’s see what happens if the effort by Susan Collins to craft compromise gun control legislation succeeds in the Senate. Will the leadership in the House kill it simply by refusing to bring it up for a vote? Now that I would find profoundly disturbing. [….]
Alot of people are complaining about the way they handLED it. Regardless though somebody had to do something. Like DJ said congress will sit around and do nothing but have a minute of silence. But that doesn't do anything. Silent time is over. I'm glad to see my party take drastic measures into their own hand.