Republicans resist gun control vote

Larson said he considers Ryan “an honorable guy and a reasonable guy” and said, “Can the gun lobby have that big a hold on this place” that Republicans won’t allow votes on the Democratic proposals.

Under the proposed GOP legislation, the government can ban gun sales to suspected terrorists but only if they can prove within 72 hours that the person on the watch or no-fly list has links to terrorism – a provision Democrats say is impossible.

Speaker Paul RyanPaul RyanHouse braces for battle over guns Rand Paul: Rule of law “turned upside down” on Clinton emails Senate GOP fumes over Federal Bureau of Investigation decision on Clinton probe MORE (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plan to meet with the House sergeant-at-arms later Tuesday to discuss Democrats’ potential rules violations during the sit-in.

Ryan said the Democratic bills would violate the Constitution’s rights for people to bear arms and to have legal processes to protect themselves.

“We expect members of Congress to adhere to the rules and the decorum of what is expected by being on the floor”, McCarthy said at a press briefing. In response, Democrats, led by Georgia Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, led his party in a dramatic scene, where he and fellow Democrats occupied the chamber, chanting, giving speeches, singing and shouting — all to call for votes on gun legislation. During the protests, the House Democratic campaign committee sent out several fundraising solicitations, giving the GOP fodder that the move was rooted in politics.

A spokeswoman for Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn’s office said they checked and the Democratic caucus didn’t have a meeting with the Department of Finance and Administration as advertised. The outcome of the meeting could help determine whether Democrats will continue their combative tactics, which have put Republicans in an unusual position. Democrats said it was time for Ryan to “get out of the way” and heed public demands for gun restrictions. To me, I don’t think that’s what democracy looks like to the rest of the world, I don’t think that’s what the United States Congress looks like…. Republicans countered that after Democrats blocked the vote, by House rules they couldn’t take the measure up again until the next day … and that there was no meeting. One would expand background checks to private gun sales and another would block gun sales to people on terrorism no-fly lists.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called the proposal Paul will bring to floor – which is based on previous legislation written by Sen.

Hammill, Pelosi’s spokesman, said McCarthy’s comments show that Republicans “know no bounds” to their willingness to follow the NRA. On the floor, California Rep. Mike Thompson, chairman of the House Democrats’ task force on gun violence, said: “What is the majority so afraid of?”