|
Abstract
|
On June 12, 2016, the United States was confronted with another horrific gun massacre, this time at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, resulting in the deaths of 49 people. Meanwhile, in Congress, efforts to advance gun control legislation had been long stymied by recalcitrant gun rights advocates with the backing of Republican leadership. On Wednesday, June 22, this standstill erupted in confrontation when Democratic members of Congress staged a nearly 26-hour sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives, grinding proceedings to a halt, breaching formal rules, and demanding action on gun control bills before Congress entered the July 4 recess.
The sit-in occurred in response to recent failures by House Democrats to force the Republican majority to take up gun legislation and after several days of planning supported by Democratic House leadership. Shortly after the House convened that Wednesday morning, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, the civil rights icon chosen as the figurehead for the sit-in (figure 1), offered a floor speech pleading for gun control legislation. More than 40 colleagues joined him, many sitting on the floor of the well. Amid chants of "No bill, no break!" they proclaimed they would not budge until the majority leadership allowed consideration of gun control legislation (Bade, Caygle, and Weyl 2016). As Politico noted, "What began as an intricate behind-the-scenes plot with a handful of members grew to include almost the entire 188-person Democratic Caucus" (Bade and Caygle 2016).
Republicans, who appeared caught off guard, quickly gaveled out and shut off House television cameras. The protest suspended almost all scheduled legislative business until 1 p.m. the next day and left Republican leadership with few options outside the extreme--and not chosen--act of using the Sergeant at Arms to forcibly restore order. In an even more extraordinary move, Democrats further violated House rules through the use of mobile phones to broadcast live video of the demonstration through social media. This streaming video was widely picked up by news outlets, shared on social media, and aired in its entirety by C-SPAN (Connors 2016; figure 2)...
Language: en |