A group of Democratic lawmakers sat down on the floor of the House of Representatives chamber to protest a lack of action on gun violence, demanding to vote on gun safety.
Among them was Jewish Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, who took the podium June 22. A Chicago native, she pointed to rampant gun deaths in that city as evidence for a need to legislate.
“We can’t let these daily shootings phase into the background of America,” she said. “I know that my constituents feel frustrated and ignored when Congress responds to each of these tragedies with inaction.”
The sit-in follows a Democratic filibuster in the Senate last week, also calling for action on guns.
Spearheaded by Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, the lawmakers called for a bill to ban people on the federal government’s no-fly list from obtaining gun.
They threatened to stay on the House floor until such a vote took place, chanting, “No bill, no break!”
