Times-Herald: Leaders, politicians hold sit-in to protest gun control laws

SAN FRANCISCO >> Less than a week after Democrats ended their day-long sit-in protest on the House floor over gun control laws, government officials once again rallied together Wednesday to protest Republican inaction.

Led by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Solano), a handful of congressmen and women joined Bay Area law enforcement officers, community leaders and survivors of gun violence in a show of solidarity in the plaza outside of the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

The group spoke to a fluctuating crowd of approximately 300 people beginning at 1 p.m., touching on past incidences where the current gun control laws have failed and to demand Republicans allow a vote on increased background checks for potential gun owners.

“The people said no longer shall we have a moment of silence on the floor of the House following a tragedy,” Pelosi said. “A moment of silence is just that — silence and no action. There will be no more silence without peace. Our message to our leadership is ‘give us a vote.’”

Pelosi’s message was well received by the mostly younger audience, many of whom were holding signs with slogans of “#DisarmHate” and “Every town for gun control” in support of the sit-in.

The movement toward relying on social media to spread the message of tighter gun control laws is consistent with the actions taken by the 170 lawmakers in the initial sit-in Wednesday.

Protesting politicians were forced to rely on programs such as Twitter, Periscope and Facebook to document their struggle after Republicans made a move to terminate their protest by adjourning the House for a nearly two-week-long recess.

“We need everybody in every corner of our great country to let their member of congress know that we want laws that will allow guns to be owned by people in a safe manner,” said Thompson, who is also the chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “There are some people who shouldn’t be able to get guns, that’s all we are asking for. You shouldn’t be able to get a gun if you are a criminal, dangerously mentally ill or a terrorist. The first line of defence against these people getting guns are background checks.

“We want Republican leaders to bring up a vote for our bipartisan bills to expand background checks to anyone who buys a gun at any commercial site,” he added. “It’s pretty simple, safe, responsible and reasonable. In fact, 90 percent of American people believe this should be the law. We need that message delivered to every member of Congress who is not already standing with us.”

As his speech continued, Thompson continually peppered his sentences with facts and figures he’s collected since first being assigned to the task force.

“Three and a half years ago, Nancy Pelosi asked me to head up this task force on the heels of the Sandy Hook tragedy,” he said. “Since then, 34,000 people have been killed by a gun in the United States. We’ve been in session 520 days since Sandy Hook. There have been 1,183 mass shootings where four or more people have died. We’ve held 30 moment of silences on the House floor. Out of all of these, the most important number is zero. That’s the number of votes we’ve had on gun safety measures since Sandy Hook. It’s inappropriate and we need to change that and change it soon.”

Also present at the sit-in was Vallejo resident Sandra Vegas, wife of late Augustine “Gus” Vegas, who was shot and killed by the father of his grandson earlier this year. Vegas is no stranger to gun violence and explained she attended the sit-in to learn more about gun safety and how to better become an advocate for gun control.

“Because of my husband’s job as a police officer and range master, he always took care of the gun issues at home,” Vegas said. “He didn’t lose his life due to lack of training. Now, I want to get educated on (gun safety) and learn more about it. I support screening as well as looking for potential signs of violence before they happen. I’m here today to sit in and listen. I’m starting my education so that somehow, somewhere I can be an advocate.”

On the stage, Vallejo saw additional representation from Police Chief Andrew Bidou, who threw in his support behind the movement.

“In my 28 years of law enforcement experience, unfortunately I’ve seen the effects of gun violence in our community and it’s a tragedy,” Bidou said. “I respect the second amendment and I am a gun owner. I believe in responsible gun ownership. Part of that is responsible gun laws.

“Every day there is about 300 people injured in the United States by some sort of gun violence,” he continued. “On average, about 89 of those will die. It’s a very discouraging thing that we all probably believe will continue because of some of the new challenges that have evolved in our country. And with evolving issues there should be evolving laws. It’s time to make all of our communities safe.”