There will finally be a vote on gun control in the House of Representatives after nearly 170 House Democrats protested in an historic sit-in. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has agreed to allow a vote, but just on a bill to prevent “suspected terrorists from buying guns.”
Ryan was facing another Democratic sit-in after the 4th of July holiday, but then he capitulated, deciding to allow a limited vote on a common sense gun control bill. According to The Hill, in a conference call, Ryan told Republicans:
‘THE HOUSE WILL TAKE UP A TERRORISM PACKAGE THAT WILL INCLUDE MEASURES TO DISRUPT RADICALIZATION AND RECRUITMENT, AS WELL AS A PROVISION TO PREVENT SUSPECTED TERRORISTS FROM PURCHASING GUNS.’
The sit-in, led by infamous Civil Rights protestor Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, came just days after a gunman massacred 49 people in an Orlando gay nightclub. The killer was able to purchase automatic weapons even after the FBI investigated him for nine months.
Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota came to the sit-in after his mother called him and strongly suggested he do so, reports ThinkProgress. He said many of his fellow Democrats “have an appetite to do more than the sit-in” and that the next action “certainly could be” some form of civil disobedience.
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