Ryan suggests House won’t vote on Dems’ gun-curb proposals

The sit-in protest was organized in part by Massachusetts Congresswoman Katherine Clark, of Melrose, who joined fellow Democrats to – at times literally – sit on the House floor as they demanded a vote on gun control measures for almost 26 hours.

At an event calling for votes on meaningful gun violence prevention on the steps of the nation’s Capitol, civil rights leader and Democratic Rep. John Lewis, who led last month’s sit in, said on Wednesday, “We’regoing to have some more action”.

The GOP has planned to approve Republican legislation this week that would let federal authorities block gun sales to suspected terrorists, but only if they could prove in court within three days that the suspect was planning to engage in terrorism. “We have to look at all the facts”, he said, characterizing this as being more in the investigative stage.

Larson and Lewis’ meeting with Ryan broke up without a clear resolution.

In a written statement, the Freedom Caucus, which claims about 40 House members, also faulted the measure for “failing to do enough to address the threat of radical Islamic terrorism”.

Since last month’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Democrats have been advocating two proposals that include expanding background checks and banning gun sales to those on terrorism no-fly lists.

Even so, it reflects the pressure for action the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, has placed on Republican leaders, who since the 2012 killing of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, have not brought broad gun restrictions to the House floor. John Cornyn, whose measure was blocked last month by Senate Democrats who said it would do little to deny terrorists the ability to get a gun.

This time, they stayed within House rules -unlike in late June when they shouted down the speaker, sat in the well of House floor, and used their cell phones and live-streaming apps to broadcast their demands for action on gun laws during a almost 26-hour siege of the chamber.

Plans to bar firearms sales to terror suspects are unconstitutional, one of the most powerful politicians in the USA has said.

With the Republican leadership’s legislation under attack from both liberals and conservatives, it was unclear whether Ryan could muster the 218 votes he would need for passage in the House of Representatives.

Another HFC board member, Mick Mulvaney of SC, said the structured rule situation had been “a learning process” and he was “encouraged” that GOP leadership would not be blocking any more relevant Republican amendments.

Ryan met Tuesday evening with two top Democrats.

For now, Democrats are letting the House conduct regular legislative business without disruptions. A bipartisan bill by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., aimed at beefing up mental health programs was approved 422-2.

“The path ahead on the anti-terrorism package will be discussed and determined by the majority in the coming days”, Strong said.

The uncertainty over whether the vote will occur is leaving Democrats in strategic limbo over their own next moves in trying to force votes on gun control measures that they consider more meaningful. They also said they were investigating Democrats’ behavior during the sit-in, including whether they intimidated House aides and damaged furniture.

In a major schism within his conference, Ryan is struggling to garner consensus on the legislation that was created to look similar to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn’s bill that forces investigators to provide evidence before a gun sale to a suspected terrorist is permanently blocked.

Republicans say their measure protects peoples’ constitutional right to legal protections. Democrats say it sets an unreasonably hard hurdle that makes the whole proposal unworkable.

Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.