Ryan said last week that there would be a vote in the House on at least one gun control proposal – legislation to prohibit people on terror watch lists from buying firearms – as part of a larger terrorism package.
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Underscoring the pressure on GOP leaders, a mere vote on the Republican measure would be a departure: Since the 2012 slaying of school children in Newtown, Connecticut, Republicans have not brought any legislation broadly restricting guns to the House floor.
“We’re missing the point”, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, a GOP member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.
Under one measure, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Washington would have been prohibited from spending money to enforce laws regarding which residents and visitors can carry firearms.
“That’s, uh.an intuition”, he said, to a chorus of laughs from HFC Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and HFC board member Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).
“The lengths the House Republican leadership will go to follow the NRA’s marching orders know no bounds”, Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said in a statement.
Representative John Larson of CT, a ringleader of the Democrats’ sit-in, said his fellow Democrats plan to support Republican mental health legislation that could help avert some mass shootings.
The bill, which was modeled after similar legislation offered by Sen.
“But conservative lawmakers, including several who belong to the far-right House Freedom Caucus, argued that the legislation could violate an individual’s Second Amendment rights, based on what the government anticipates that person might do in the future”.
The tragedy has sparked a decidedly different response from the two parties, with the Democrats focused largely on efforts to keep guns from potentially violent people, and the Republicans emphasizing steps to combat terrorism.
The House convened peacefully on Tuesday for its first session since Democrats seized control of the chamber last month with a sit-in that lasted nearly 26 hours.
Ryan and McCarthy are set to meet with the House sergeant-at-arms Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether Democrats committed any wrongdoing during the sit-in that could lead to sanctions. John Lewis of Georgia and John Larson of CT.
Neither Lewis nor Larson would say they would urge the sit-in protests to continue on the House floor if they are denied a vote. “This is very important”, Ryan said.
After meeting with House Speaker Paul RyanPaul RyanDems vow to press for more gun votes Ryan: GOP will hold hearings on Clinton probe Ryan backs away from Trump’s praise for Hussein MORE (R-Wis.) late Tuesday in the Capitol, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) — a civil rights hero who’s leading the charge on the issue for the Democrats — declined to say what form that action would take.
“I think there is still a path forward”.
The controversy started last month in the aftermath of the deadly rampage at an Orlando nightclub, prompting Democrats to renew their long-standing push to tighten restrictions on firearms. “But he couldn’t give us any assurance” that he’d allow votes on the Democratic proposals.
Democrats remain unapologetic about breaking House rules during their impromptu protest inside the chamber. That could include closing down the House session to turn off the chamber’s cameras, which are broadcast on C-SPAN, as he did during the sit-in that began June 22.
Meanwhile, six people were arrested, including relatives of gun victims, after demonstrating in the Capitol Rotunda for gun control measures.
“This is real-time decision making”, said Rep. Steve Israel of NY, saying events are shifting Democratic strategy.
“Before we look at any actions (against Democrats), we first have have to all the facts that are based on that … There are some people that were around when this took place that had come and told me about this as well, they had seen it”. “Right now, it’s more of an investigation”.
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“We expect members of Congress to adhere to the rules and the decorum of what is expected by being on the floor”, he told reporters.
