Democrats stage sit-in demanding gun law changes

WASHINGTON: Led by John Lewis, a lawmaker who counts Mahatma Gandhi among his inspirations, Democratic lawmakers started a sit-in in support of gun control in the

WASHINGTON: Led by John Lewis, a lawmaker who counts Mahatma Gandhi among his inspirations, Democratic lawmakers started a sit-in in support of gun control in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.

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They were there till late on Thursday morning, despite the House being adjourned till July 5 for a long-scheduled recess. It was unclear how long they planned to continue.

The Democrats are demanding a vote on two bills preventing terrorists such as the Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, from buying guns, similar to the measure rejected by the Senate.

The House of Representatives hasn’t had a vote on gun control measures since 2011, when Republicans took control of the chamber. .

“My colleagues and I have had enough,” Lewis said, starting the protest on Wednesday morning. “We are sitting-in on the House Floor until we get a vote to address gun violence.”

Lewis, who represents Georgia, was a member of Martin Luther King’s team that led the civil rights movement, and describes himself as a “student” of King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. When the House cameras were switched off, they reached out through live streams on Periscope and Facebook, making speeches and shouting slogans such as “No Bill, no break”.

The “break” meant the prescheduled recess, which went into effect on Thursday. But the sit-in was still on.

Speaker Paul Ryan resumed proceedings briefly late on Wednesday to pass scheduled legislations and adjourned the House, seeing it into the recess.