Democrats in Congress Hold Sit-in to Protest Inaction on Gun Control (UPDATE)

Congressional Democrats are protesting with a sit-in after the Senate failed to pass four gun-control measures earlier this week.

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UPDATE 6/23/16 1:02 p.m.: Democrats ended the sit-in Thursday morning, according to Politico. Rep. John Lewis made the closing remarks, and the protesters promised to return to the issue when business resumes on July 5.

UPDATE 6/23/16 8:17 a.m.: Republicans closed the legislative session in the middle of the night with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer declaring the session adjourned at 3:36 a.m. But many Democrats stayed on the floor, according to CNN

At around 7 a.m. Thursday, about 20 Democrats remained when police asked them to leave for a security check. They refused. House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly responded "that's not going to happen" and continued speaking as they patrolled the floor. She said she would continue "until hell freezes over."

UPDATE 6/23/16 2:56 a.m.: By a vote of 230-175, the House has passed the first of the resolutions that will ultimately allow them to adjourn until July 5. Democrats are attempting to keep debate going in order to keep people on the floor. Voting on the second of the resolutions, however, started almost immediately after the passage of the first one.

UPDATE 6/23/16 2:37 a.m.: Voting on the Zika virus bill has begun. After a series of quick votes, House members will be free to adjourn. The Washington Examiner explains what is likely to happen:

UPDATE 6/23/16 2:34 a.m.: Chants of "No bill, no break!" are continuing while House Republicans attempt to read the first bill on which they intend to vote.

UPDATE 6/23/16 2:30 a.m.: The House is beginning their new legislative day, and Speaker Ryan has taken the podium. There are intermittent chants of "No bill, no break!" from the Democrats.

UPDATE 6/23/16 1:34 a.m.: The motion to adjourn until 2:30 a.m. has passed. House Democrats have not yet left the floor.

UPDATE 6/23/16 1:18 a.m.: A motion to adjourn until 2:30 a.m. passed 234-166 in an initial vote.  At that point, they will vote on a series of matters unrelated to gun control, including the Zika virus.

UPDATE 6/23/16 12:55 a.m.: Word has come through that House Republicans are attempting to push through a resolution to adjourn until July 5. In response, Democrats are leading chants of "Shame!" and "No bill, no break!" from the House floor.

UPDATE 6/22/16 11:34 p.m.: Despite protests from House Democrats, some observers are being escorted from the gallery. At this time, it is unclear how many people or why they are being kicked out.

UPDATE 06/22/16 9:44 p.m.: House Republicans have agreed to reconvene at 10 p.m. ET. 

UPDATE 06/22/16 8:42 p.m.: Bernie Sanders stopped by to show his support for the sit-in. 

.@SenWarren and @BernieSanders have joined House Democrats’ sit-in over gun control pic.twitter.com/jkQ8PEF2G5https://t.co/SU0OR4BWq1

See the original story from 06/22/16 below.

Democrats in Congress are staging a sit-in on the House floor as an act of protest against current gun laws. The protest comes just days after Democrats filibustered for 15 hours, demanding a vote on increased gun control legislation. The legislation failed to receive necessary votes when the Senate voted on Monday. 

Now, members of the House and Senate are seated on the floor of Congress, demanding another vote for gun control reform. CBS Newsreported around 60 members of Congress are sitting on the floor, and some are standing up. Georgia Representative and long-time civil rights activist John Lewis is leading the sit-in and has been tweeting commentary live from the protest:

Representative John Yarmuth from Kentucky is also updating live from the sit-in:

Other members of Congress including Connecticut Representatives Joe Courtney and Elizabeth Etsy are sitting-in as well:

CBS further reported that Democratic members of Congress took turns speaking at the podium and chanted "No bill, no break" in between speeches. In his speech, Representaive Lewis addressed Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, saying,

We have lost hundreds and thousands of innocent people to gun violence. Tiny little children, babies, students, and teachers, mothers, and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, friends and neighbors. And what has this body done? Mr. Speaker, nothing. Not one thing. We have turned deaf ears to the blood of the innocent and the concern of our nation. We are blind to a crisis.

View this video on YouTube

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Rep. Bobby Rush also gave a touching speech on the need for greater gun control measures during the sit-in. "I'm so disappointed that mothers, family members, young people—not only in Chicago but throughout the nation—I'm so disappointed that they can't look to their leadership here in the Congress and count on their leadership to help solve this problem, this carnage on our streets, all across the nation," Rush said, according toJezebel. "Guns are more available [to] 14-year-olds in this nation right now as we speak. Guns are more available to them, easier to obtain than a prescription from a physician. Madame Speaker, Madame Leader, I'm afraid once we do pass effective gun laws, the question I have is, what about the guns that are in the hands of the 12 and 13 and 14-year-olds? What do we do with those guns? When is it going to stop?"

The marathon filibuster last week that led to Monday's vote was brought about following the deadliest mass shooting in United States history at Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida earlier this month, where 49 people were murdered and an additional 53 were injured. In fact, a shooting in Washington state took place at the exact moment the historic sit-in was grabbing headlines. Three people were killed and one person left injured in Lacey, according to the Olympian.​

According to The Trace, the average number of gun deaths per day in the US during 2015 was 36. The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that collects and shares information about gun violence, reports that, as of June 22, 6,358 have been killed by guns so far in 2016. As of January 2016, the Council on Foreign Relations reported that the US owns between 35 and 50 percent of the planet's civilian-owned firearms, though the US makes up only 5 percent of the world's population.

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