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The gun control sit-in is a symbolic victory – but little more than that The gun control sit-in is a symbolic victory – and there's still power in that
(35 minutes later)
Related: Democrats continue House sit-in demanding vote on gun controlRelated: Democrats continue House sit-in demanding vote on gun control
The deaths in Orlando may have been senseless murders but they won’t be in vain. Last week a Senate filibuster forced a vote on gun control measures, and this week -- in a sit-in by a rotating cast of roughly 100 lawmakers led by civil rights leader John Lewis – lawmakers pushed to do the same in the lower chamber. They refused to leave the House floor until a vote took place, in the biggest Congressional mobilization around gun violence in recent memory. The deaths in Orlando may have been senseless murders but they won’t be in vain. Last week a Senate filibuster forced a vote on gun control measures, and this week – in a sit-in by a rotating cast of roughly 100 lawmakers led by civil rights leader John Lewis – lawmakers pushed to do the same in the lower chamber. They refused to leave the House floor until a vote took place, in the biggest congressional mobilization around gun violence in recent memory.
The sit-in ended in the early morning hours on Thursday, after starting around midday on Wednesday. The House officially adjourned for recess at 3:19 am, with a Republican-backed funding vote on Zika, but a handful of haggard Democrats stayed on despite the impossibility of votes. Political reporters tried to remember the last time they’d seen anything like it: they couldn’t. The sit-in ended in the early morning hours on Thursday, after starting around midday on Wednesday. The House officially adjourned for recess at 3.19am, with a Republican-backed funding vote on Zika, but a handful of haggard Democrats stayed on despite the impossibility of votes. Political reporters tried to remember the last time they’d seen anything like it: they couldn’t.
Lawmakers inside made personal pleas and moral arguments during the sit-in. Debbie Wasserman Schultz read aloud from a note by Gabby Giffords, who in 2011 was permanently debilitated by a mass shooting that killed six of her constituents and injured 13 more. And Debbie Dingell recalled being threatened at gunpoint as a child. “I know what it’s like to hide in a closet and pray to god, ‘Do not let anything happen to me,’” she told the assembled members. Bobby Rush, whose son was killed in a shooting, spoke twice. Lawmakers inside made personal pleas and moral arguments during the sit-in. Debbie Wasserman Schultz read aloud from a note by Gabby Giffords, who in 2011 was permanently debilitated by a mass shooting that killed six of her constituents and injured 13 more. And Debbie Dingell recalled being threatened at gunpoint as a child. “I know what it’s like to hide in a closet and pray to God, ‘Do not let anything happen to me,’” she told the assembled members. Bobby Rush, whose son was killed in a shooting, spoke twice.
“What I remember most,” Rush said, “besides this picture of my son laying in that hospital bed, swollen up twice his normal size – what I remember about that was my daughter, her mother falling on the floor of the hospital, screaming, screaming. She said: ‘Dad, Dad, do something.’“What I remember most,” Rush said, “besides this picture of my son laying in that hospital bed, swollen up twice his normal size – what I remember about that was my daughter, her mother falling on the floor of the hospital, screaming, screaming. She said: ‘Dad, Dad, do something.’
“I could not have felt more helpless”, he said.“I could not have felt more helpless”, he said.
That was in 1999. And helpless Rush and others on Capitol Hill have remained – until this week anyway.That was in 1999. And helpless Rush and others on Capitol Hill have remained – until this week anyway.
Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the sit-in over gun control votes as a “publicity stunt,” and in a way, he’s right. Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the sit-in over gun control votes as a “publicity stunt”, and in a way, he’s right.
For all the political might on display, the House Democrat’s sit-in was hopeless. Even if Democrats did get a vote on the legislation in question, they’d lose in a landslide in the Republican-controlled House. And already we know for a fact that it wouldn’t get passed the Senate. For all the political might on display, the House Democrat’s sit-in was hopeless. Even if Democrats did get a vote on the legislation in question, they’d lose in a landslide in the Republican-controlled House. And already we know for a fact that it wouldn’t get past the Senate.
The fact that the legislation is thought to be too weak to meaningfully reduce gun violence in America, that it might unduly impact those wrongfully on the government’s “no-fly” list, that it’s crafted more to make Republicans look bad than prevent the greatest number of gun-related deaths – all those points of nuance are afterthought. What matters is that we take action; we need to do something about gun control in America now. The fact that the legislation is thought to be too weak to meaningfully reduce gun violence in America, that it might unduly affect those wrongfully on the government’s “no-fly” list, that it’s crafted more to make Republicans look bad than prevent the greatest number of gun-related deaths – all those points of nuance are afterthought. What matters is that we take action; we need to do something about gun control in America now.
The motion is about political messaging – shaming really – in the purest sense. That is a sad state of affairs at a time when we know that, for instance, more Americans have been killed by gun violence since 1968 than in all US wars. “In the time that we’ve been here, maybe while you were sitting down, three people were shot and killed in Lacey, Washington”, Denny Heck, who represents Washington’s 10th District including Lacey told his colleagues on the House floor. “I’ll tell you what I’m not going to do”, he added. “I’m not going to ask for a moment of silence”. The motion is about political messaging – shaming really – in the purest sense. That is a sad state of affairs at a time when we know that, for instance, more Americans have been killed by gun violence since 1968 than in all US wars. “In the time that we’ve been here, maybe while you were sitting down, three people were shot and killed in Lacey, Washington,” Denny Heck, who represents Washington’s 10th district including Lacey, told his colleagues on the House floor. “I’ll tell you what I’m not going to do,” he added. “I’m not going to ask for a moment of silence.”
Instead he did the only thing a lawmaker seeking gun reforms in Congress right now can do – he kept talking and refused to yield the floor.Instead he did the only thing a lawmaker seeking gun reforms in Congress right now can do – he kept talking and refused to yield the floor.
It’s a woefully inadequate response to the scourge of gun violence. But when you step back to survey the landscape of gun reform, that we must count this as a victory is also a reality.It’s a woefully inadequate response to the scourge of gun violence. But when you step back to survey the landscape of gun reform, that we must count this as a victory is also a reality.
America hasn’t seen significant gun control reform since the passage of the Brady Bill in 1993. And that victory – as Sarah Brady, wife of the late James Brady and outspoken gun control advocate, once said – is simply not possible in today’s political climate. “When we passed the Brady Law, we had support of Republicans and Democrats and President Reagan”, she told me three decades after the Reagan assassination attempt. “But the Republican Party has become a lot more conservative and more rural than it was 20 years ago”. America hasn’t seen significant gun control reform since the passage of the Brady Bill in 1993. And that victory – as Sarah Brady, wife of the late James Brady and outspoken gun control advocate, once said – is simply not possible in today’s political climate. “When we passed the Brady Law, we had support of Republicans and Democrats and President Reagan,” she told me three decades after the Reagan assassination attempt. “But the Republican party has become a lot more conservative and more rural than it was 20 years ago.”
A year later Bill Clinton enacted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law, which banned 19 different types of assault weapons, only to see it its provision banning high-capacity magazines expire through a sunset provision 10 years later.A year later Bill Clinton enacted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law, which banned 19 different types of assault weapons, only to see it its provision banning high-capacity magazines expire through a sunset provision 10 years later.
Since then Congress in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting and other tragedies has introduced reforms only to see them stall and go nowhere. The exceptions to this rule of stagnation – the creation of a background check database following the Virginia Tech shooting and a litany of executive actions taken by President Obama – amount to cold comfort for reformers.Since then Congress in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting and other tragedies has introduced reforms only to see them stall and go nowhere. The exceptions to this rule of stagnation – the creation of a background check database following the Virginia Tech shooting and a litany of executive actions taken by President Obama – amount to cold comfort for reformers.
Sure this was a “publicity stunt” to put it in Speaker Ryan’s words. But if we want to talk in those terms, so was march from Selma to Montgomery, and so were the protests for women’s rights before that. It’s not the policy sea-change lawmakers are looking for, but the power of it shouldn’t be dismissed. Sure this was a “publicity stunt” to put it in Speaker Ryan’s words. But if we want to talk in those terms, so was the march from Selma to Montgomery, and so were the protests for women’s rights before that. It’s not the policy sea change lawmakers are looking for, but the power of it shouldn’t be dismissed.