On Wednesday, June 23rd legislatives created history by staging a sit-in inside the congress floor. Leaders were chanting, “No Bill, No Break” as Republican House speaker Paul Ryan tried to continue on pursuing a different agenda other than gun reform.
The sit-in was led by Republican John Lewis, who wanted the bipartisan bill that would not allow anyone who is placed on a terror watch list to purchase a firearm to be put to a vote. House speaker Paul Ryan stated that the bill did not make it in the Senate, so he could not bring it to the house floor to vote on. Angered by not being able to vote on the bill, 170 legislatives, both Republican and Democrats came together and made history on the house floor by staging a sit in. Chanting loudly, “No bill, no break” and chanting louder whenever Ryan tried to continue with the agenda for the day.
When speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Paul Ryan stated that the sit-in was mainly a publicity stunt. That the bill did not make it in the senate so there is nothing to vote on. He also believes that the bill strips Americans of their constitutional right of owning a firearm. He continued to state that there are already procedures in place for anyone that tries to purchase a firearm and is on on the watch list.
Legislatives who staged the sit in believe that there should be more done to prevent the purchase of firearms by anyone who was thought to have been a danger to the country. Many of them during the sit-in held signs of the names of victims killed by gun violence. The sit-in lasted approximately 12 hours, on Thursday the legislatives who were taking part of the sit in decided to end the protest and return to their hometowns and fight there for gun reform until Congress returns to session on July 5th.