The House Sit-In on Gun Reform Continues
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The sit-in by House Democrats to protest a lack of action on gun control went all night, and it's still going — crossing the 24 hour mark. The demonstration started yesterday at 11:25 a.m. ET when Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) called for other Democrats to join him in a sit in.
The sit-in was an attempt to force a vote on two gun control measures put forth following the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando on Sunday, June 12. Last week in the Senate, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) staged a filibuster (a process used to hold the floor) that 40 other senators participated in to force votes on similar gun control amendments. The Senate blocked all four amendments — two put forth by Democrats, two put forth by Republicans — from moving forward.
Here are four things that happened overnight at the House sit-in:
1. The sit-in by House Democrats has been going on for 24 hours.
A sit-in is something that rarely happens in the House and the length of this sit-in is historic. In 1995 House Democrats protested a Republican passed budget, but that only lasted a few hours, according to The Washington Post. In 2008, House Republicans held the floor to protest high gas prices.
2. House Speaker Paul Ryan made a big late-night move against the House sit-in.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R- Wis.) and Republicans stopped the possibility of the sit-in resulting in a vote. At about 2:30 a.m. local time Ryan called a vote on unrelated bills and then called for an early recess for the Fourth of July holiday. This means that the House will not be back in session until July 5 and no vote can happen before then.
3. Things got heated with Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert.
While Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) was speaking on the House floor during the sit-in, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) crashed the party and started shouting that "radical Islam killed those people." The House Democrats shout back and he walks out of the frame.
Although you can't see it in the video, Politico reports that Rep. Corinne Brown (D-Fla.) wasn't taking any trash talk from Gohmert. They started yelling at each other and other legislators had to break them up.
4. Even some observers in the gallery got into the action.
Some people in the gallery started shouting at House Republicans, which is against House rules. Although the lawmakers are breaking House rules, police enforced the rules in the gallery and started to kick watchers out, according to Politico.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) saw what was happening and intervened. They convinced security to let them stay.
