WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) — Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, including some of the party’s leaders, set on a new path Wednesday to force the Republican-controlled chamber to take gun control more seriously in the wake of the Orlando shootings.
Called “No Bill, No Break,” the sit-in demonstration’s namesake alludes to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday recess for Congress, and seeks to spur GOP lawmakers into taking action before then.
The sit-in saw Democratic legislators plunk themselves down on the House floor, often chanting over commands from Republicans for order.
Led by civil rights advocate Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., more than two dozen Democrats began the protest shortly before noon. By mid-Wednesday, it was still going.
“Now is the time for us to find a way to dramatize it, to make it real,” Lewis said. “We have to occupy the floor of the House until there is action.”
“Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way,” he added. “There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. … We will be silent no more.”
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the party’s top-ranking House member, attended the sit-in for a time Wednesday.
“We cannot let another moment of silence happen on the House floor without acting,” she said.
“We will not leave the floor of this House until this Congress takes action!” Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said.
Live stream: NBC News
Some Democratic senators from Congress’ senior chamber even took part in the sit-in — including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
The protest comes after Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, unveiled compromise legislation Tuesday in a bid to get some form of gun-control legislation through the Senate.
Collins’ amendment would prohibit gun sales to people on two FBI terrorist watch lists: the “No Fly List,” which prohibits suspected terrorists from boarding planes heading to or from the United States or crossing U.S. airspace, and the “Selectee List,” which requires extra screening procedures.
There are approximately 109,000 people on those lists. The vast majority are foreigners, but the list is said to include around 2,700 Americans, according to Collins.
Unlike their Senate counterparts, House representatives are not permitted to filibuster — a stall tactic intended to direct action toward a particular issue — so instead they opted for the sit-in. Last week, Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., led a marathon filibuster that was also intended to spur gun control reform by a Republican Congress that continues to resist further regulations against the powerful gun industry.
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office said the chamber could not take care of normal business as long as the demonstration continued. An option for the sergeant-at-arms to remove the protesting lawmakers was viewed as provocative and unpractical, given the fact that the sit-in included literally dozens of lawmakers.
“The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution,” a spokeswoman for Ryan said in an email.
Proud to stand with my colleagues to demand action. #NoBillNoBreak https://t.co/aARh2tppCk— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 22, 2016
A live broadcast of the House floor, provided by C-Span, was ultimately switched off Wednesday afternoon because Republicans called for a recess, a standard practice by the political broadcaster.
Four gun policy measures failed on Monday to move forward in the Senate.
U.S. President Barack Obama has made repeated calls for gun law reform during his time in office, and does so after each major incident of gun violence. He called for greater gun controls after high-profile attacks in Newtown, Conn., Umpqua Community College in Oregon and San Bernardino, Calif.
“Being tough on terrorism, particularly the sorts of homegrown terrorism that we have seen now in Orlando and San Bernardino means making it harder for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on assault weapons that are capable of killing dozens of innocents as quickly as possible,” he said.
Numerous lawmakers in the House attracted attention to their #NoBillNoBreak campaign online with social media posts and photographs.
Do we have the courage? Do we have raw courage to at least make a down payment on ending gun violence in America? #holdthefloor #goodtrouble— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 22, 2016
The @HouseGOP may run from a vote for common-sense gun measures, but they can’t hide. #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/TMnjPmJClS— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 22, 2016
30,000 lives are lost a year to #GunViolence, US officials have a responsibility to prevent & end it. #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/vEHm8luYQK— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) June 22, 2016
.@RepDuckworth getting the word out. Keep the calls coming!!! #NoBillNoBreak #holdthefloor pic.twitter.com/b5qNiGKZeJ— Kathleen Rice (@RepKathleenRice) June 22, 2016
Thanks to @SenSanders for joining today’s sit-in demanding action. Every hour our voice grows louder. #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/JzUJdhINzF— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) June 22, 2016
>90% of Americans support background checks to buy guns yet we have to #HoldTheFloor to get a vote #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/ip3lNIxL5a— Rep. Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter) June 22, 2016
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