Record-Bee: Thompson tells House Republican leadership: No bill, no break

Washington, D.C. >> In an historic 26-hour sit-in on the House floor that ended Thursday, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, joined House Democrats in protesting the refusal of Republican leadership to allow a vote on bipartisan legislation to address gun violence.

During the sit-in, House Republicans recessed the House of Representatives without voting on legislation that would help keep guns out of dangerous hands.

“An overwhelming majority of the American people want to see Congress pass commonsense legislation to make sure suspected terrorists don’t have easy access to guns and to close dangerous loopholes in our criminal background check system,” Thompson said. “Congress has a responsibility to listen to the will of the people, put partisan politics aside and do what it takes to help keep our communities safe from gun violence. But for years, Republican leadership has ignored the will of the people and denied us a vote on any gun violence legislation. So this week, my colleagues and I took to the House floor for 26 hours to make sure that the voices of the American people were heard. And while House Republicans may have cut and run in the middle of the night, we will continue working to pass commonsense gun violence prevention legislation.”

House Democrats staged a sit-in on the House floor to demand that Republican leadership allow a vote on bipartisan legislation to help keep guns out of dangerous hands. House Democrats called on House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Republicans to allow an immediate vote on two bills:

The bipartisan King-Thompson legislation (H.R. 1217) to close a loophole in our background check system that allows criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill to bypass a background check in 34 states when purchasing guns online or at a gun show;

The bipartisan “No Fly, No Buy” bill (H.R. 1076) to prohibit individuals on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Terrorists Watchlist from being able to legally purchase guns.