These were the chants that accompanied the Democratic House Caucus’s press event to pressure House Republicans to allow real gun violence prevention legislation, during which Civil Rights icon John Lewis vowed, “We have the power, we have the ability, to disarm hate!”
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“So you know, if they want to start [an] investigation on Lewis for sitting on the floor of the House, [or] they’re going to investigate somebody for using a cellphone on the floor of the House – I don’t think so”, she added. Two weeks after staging a House floor sit-in to call attention to their demands, Democrats are pressing for votes on two amendments: one to broaden background checks for gun buyers, the other to ban many firearms sales to suspected terrorists.
Even so, their opposition comes on an issue that’s been catapulted back into prominence by last month’s mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, and Ryan would like to demonstrate that the GOP can act.
Republicans have incorporated gun curbs into a broader bill aimed at addressing domestic terrorism that the House has planned to debate this week.
It would be a mistake for House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders in Washington to follow through on their threats to punish Democrats for their 25-hour sit-in on the House floor. Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor to demand votes on gun-control bills, shouting down Ryan when he attempted to restore order as their protest stretched into the night.
The two Democrats said afterward that although Ryan was respectful and courteous, the Wisconsin Republican would not agree to allow votes on their gun proposals.
“For the time being, the most extreme faction of the Republican majority is able to thwart the overwhelming desire of the American people for reasonable gun safety legislation”, Yarmuth said.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week unveiled a proposal – identical to that offered Sen.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Garrison, said in an emailed statement that although House leadership could bring it back, he’s “glad the bill is dead”.
In that time, House Speaker Paul Ryan called Congress into recess, cutting out C-SPAN’s live cameras.
After Democrats finished offering their unanimous consent requests Thursday, the House returned to its originally scheduled proceedings on an unrelated measure.
Larry Pratt, executive director emeritus of the Gun Owners of America, contended in an interview with VOA that Democratic lawmakers are “making a play for our guns right after we celebrated our independence”, the country’s annual July 4 holiday. “Terrorists already can be arrested, charged, tried, and convicted under current law – and denied gun rights”.
Ryan has since backed away from his timeline of voting on the bill, instead saying the House will vote “when we’re ready”.
While Ryan did little to break up the June sit-in, his office said he’s evaluating options for action and consulting with the sergeant-at-arms for dealing with future episodes.
But the Democrats’ effort seems unlikely to move gun legislation forward.
Democratic House members Katie Edwards of Plantation and Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda of Tallahassee, joined 52 Republicans in voting against the session.
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Though Democrats voted for the measure, they raised concerns it would not have the desired impact if Congress did not put more money behind the programs.
