Culture

US Democrats Are Refusing To Leave The Floor Of Congress Until They Can Vote For Gun Control

"Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. Sometimes you have to make a little noise."

by Alex McKinnon  23 June 2016

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Despite the worst peacetime mass shooting in US history in Orlando last week, Congress has again refused to pass even the most basic and timid gun control measures. While Democratic politicians like Senator Chris Murphy have pleaded the case for gun control for up to 15 hours at a time on the floor of Congress, Republicans have still, somehow, voted against or refused to vote on legislation that would keep assault weapons out of the hands of known terror suspects and close loopholes that allow guns to be purchased without a background check.

Now, in an act both of defiance and concession that politics as usual has failed, Democratic politicians are giving up on the lawmaking process altogether and turning to outright protest and civil disobedience to demand Congress act. House Democrats have begun a sit-in on the floor of their legislature and are refusing to leave until the Republican leadership allows a vote on gun control.

In a speech to the House, Georgia Democrat representative and civil rights leader John Lewis asked, “What would finally make Congress do what is right? What is just?”

“We have lost hundreds of thousands of innocent people to gun violence,” Lewis said. “And what has this body done? Nothing. Mister Speaker, not one thing. We have turned deaf ears to the blood of our nation.

“Where is the heart of this body? Where is our soul? Where is our moral leadership? Where is our courage?

“The time for silence and patience is long gone. We are calling on the leadership of the House to bring common sense gun control legislation to the House floor. Give us a vote! Let us vote! We came here to do our job! We came here to work!

“Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. Sometimes you have to make a little noise. Now is the time to get in the way.”

While Republicans are dismissing the action as a “publicity stunt”, the fact that Lewis was dthe one to initiate it cannot be taken lightly. Lewis is the only surviving original leader of the 1960s Civil Rights movement and one of the 13 original Freedom Riders. He organised sit-ins, bus boycotts, marches and demonstrations alongside Martin Luther King, and spoke at the March on Washington where King delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.

In other words, when John Lewis thinks it’s time to stage a protest over your behaviour, you’re probably on the wrong side of the argument.

Amazingly, the Republican House leadership has responded to the protest by shutting off the cameras normally used to cover Congressional proceedings, denying TV networks the footage they’d normally use to cover such an event. Undeterred, broadcasters like CSPAN are broadcasting the live footage being filmed by Democrats themselves, who are livestreaming the protest on social media.

It remains to be seen how long Democrats stay on the House floor, but given Murphy’s previous filibuster effort of over 15 hours, and the Republicans’ intransigence on gun control, it’s likely they’re in for the long haul.