House Democrats staged a sit-in Wednesday night in support of a gun control bill they wanted Congress to vote on before their summer break.
The Democrat backed bill would have stopped anyone on the U.S. No Fly List from buying firearms and require universal background checks. It would have also extended the 3-day waiting period if background checks weren’t completed in time, and required the Centers for Disease Control to study gun violence as a public health concern.
U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio’s 13th district says the sit-in was an attempt to get the bill to a vote.
“And I think we would lose that vote because the Republicans are in control and clearly they have more people on their side that would oppose this," he said. "Why they would I don’t know, but we’re just saying ‘give the vote a shot. Get it to the floor. Let us have our say. Let’s have a debate about this. Let the American people hear the debate about this and then we’ll vote. And if we lose, we lose, but you gave us a vote.”
Some Republicans, including Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan characterized the sit-in as a "stunt."
Tim Ryan says Democrats will reorganize and push the bill again when Congress reconvenes after summer break.
WYSO reached out to several Republicans in Congress and will update this story with any responses.
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