Civil rights movement icon Democratic Congressman John Lewis led a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representative demanding Capitol Hill enact legislation to effect gun control in the wake of mass shootings including June 12 Orlando killings.
Around 40 House lawmakers joined the sit-in as a protest and sought a vote on measures to expand background checks and block gun purchases by some suspected extremists.
The sit-in, once a form of protest in the civil rights struggle era, took place at the front of the chamber in a challenge to Republican Speaker Paul Ryan in the wake of the worst shooting rampage in US history that claimed 49 lives in Orlando, Florida.
Lewis said action on gun violence must not be delayed. His call follows the Senate failure to pass legislation on gun control as Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted along party lines in the heated 2016 election season.
“Where is our courage?” said Lewis said at the impromptu sit-in. “Those who pursue common-sense improvement are beaten down. Reason is is put aside … What is the tipping point? Are we blind. Can we see? … Give us a vote! we came here to do our job!”
Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Congressman Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, suggested that could be a marathon recess.
“Our people deserve to know where their representatives stand on this issue, just as they now do with their senators,” he said.
Speaker Ryan’s spokeswoman Ashlee Strong said, “The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair.”
Lewis also tweeted a series of messages urging effective gun control.
“Give us a vote! Let us vote! We came here to do our job, we came here to work! The American people are demanding action.”
“We have to ask who we are as a people. Are we a people of progress or a people of inaction,” another tweet said.
Nearly 11 hours of sit-in the Republicans regained control of the chamber.
