Congress members join 300 at antigun sit-in
Fresh from last week’s sit-in on the floor of Congress, seven U.S. representatives brought their call for new gun control laws on Wednesday to the front door of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which treats many victims of gun violence.
Pelosi and her colleagues told about 300 supporters that House Republican leaders’ offer to schedule a moment of silence for victims of the Orlando massacre instead of scheduling a vote on a bill to ban gun sales to people on the federal no-fly list was “unacceptable.”
Mike Honda of San Jose, Eric Swalwell of Dublin, Jerry McNerney of Stockton and Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County), were joined at the podium by citizens who told of losing family members to gun violence and by Vallejo Police Chief Andrew Bidou, who said he believed in “responsible gun ownership.”
Some members of Congress, standing in the afternoon sun, looked like they might have welcomed the chance to sit cross-legged again.
Last Thursday, 170 lawmakers held an unprecedented sit-in on the floor of the House to demand that Speaker Paul Ryan schedule votes on gun control bills that would require background checks and ban sales to persons on the federal no-fly watch list.
The Democrats brought sleeping bags and battery packs into the chamber, ignored Republican demands to end the protest and kept talking while Republicans ordered a “security sweep” involving federal agents and a dog.
When Ryan ordered that C-SPAN cameras be shut down, the Democrats responded by posting on social media via their phones.
Ryan called the sit-in a “publicity stunt,” and accused the participants of throwing the House into “chaos.”
The Democrats, saying they sense more public outrage over gun violence following the Orlando massacre than after other mass shootings, vowed to returned to Washington next week to renew their efforts to get a vote scheduled.
At the San Francisco rally, members of gun control advocate groups, such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Moms Demand Action, filled the plaza to listen to the representatives.