House Democrats stage sit-in to push for gun-control votes

Washington, June 23: US Congressional Democrats on Wednesday staged a sit-in on the House floor to push for votes on gun-control measures.

According to the broadcast by US TV network C-SPAN, dozens of Democratic lawmakers took part in the sit-in after the House of Representatives began its legislative schedules on Wednesday morning, Xinhua reported.

"We've voted more than 60 times on repealing the Affordable Care Act, but can't get one vote on gun violence? really?" wrote Ed Perlmutter, Democratic lawmaker from Colorado on his twitter account with a hashtag "NoBillNoBreak".

The House had so far recessed in the wake of the sit-in. A spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an online statement that the House "cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair".

The sit-in came less than two days after the also Republican-controlled Senate failed to pass four gun-control measures as the country was still reeling from the deadliest shooting massacre in US history.

The votes in the Senate was a direct result of a 15-hour filibuster launched by Democrats in the upper chamber.

After the nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people were killed and more than 50 were injured by a lone gunman who was killed in a shootout with police, House Speaker Ryan made it clear that there would not be rush in the House in terms of gun-control votes.

"We're going to take a deep breath and make sure that this is done correctly," said Ryan in an interview with NBC on Sunday.

IANS