[V]ermont’s congressional delegation participated in a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives that stretched for more than a day.
The protest ended Thursday afternoon after lawmakers spent more than 25 hours sitting on the floor of the House Chamber.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., joined the sit-in for all but a couple of hours, he said in an interview shortly after the protest ended Thursday.
“I’m sharing the frustration that many Vermonters and Americans are feeling about Congress’ inaction in the face of one mass shooting tragedy after another,” Welch said.
The sit-in, led by Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, pressured Republican House leadership to allow the body to vote on two bills. One would limit the access of people on the federal no-fly list to guns, and the other would expand background checks on gun purchases.
Welch said he is frustrated by the lack of action in Congress on gun control.
When, in the wake of the massacre, House Speaker Paul Ryan asked for a moment of silence last week, Welch said he surprised himself by getting up and walking out of the chamber.
“It was a spontaneous action on my part,” the congressman said. However, he said, there have been more than 30 moments of silence since the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, left 26 dead, and he is frustrated.
“The job of Congress is to do more than have a moment of silence to acknowledge loss,” Welch said.
Welch joined the protest on the floor, led by Lewis, on Wednesday and was present for most of it, he said.
“We did something that was unprecedented,” Welch said. “We disrupted the business of the House.”
Up to some #goodtrouble, as my friend @RepJohnLewis would say. #Holdthefloor pic.twitter.com/znF33If91Z
— Rep. Peter Welch (@PeterWelch) June 22, 2016
Welch nodded to Lewis’ clout in Congress. The Georgia Democrat is widely respected for his long service in Washington, as well as his leadership in the civil rights movement.
Welch said his office has heard from many constituents since the sit-in began and that the feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
Vermonters, Welch said, are “rightly proud that we have a tradition of responsible use of firearms.”
“I think it’s our job to try to balance public safety concerns and the right to these firearms,” Welch said.
He said he wants the House to vote on the proposals so he can go on the record either in favor or against.
“Vermonters will know where I stand, and they can decide whether they want to send me back or not,” Welch said.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also stopped by to show their solidarity with the push by the minority party in the lower chamber.
Earlier this week, both senators voted on four gun-related amendments in the Senate. They both supported two offered by Democrats and opposed the counterpart bills offered by Republicans.
A spokesman for Sanders said the junior senator stopped by the sit-in “to support efforts to pass very basic gun safety measures that would keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.”
David Carle, a spokesperson for Leahy, said the senior senator joined the sit-in in the well of the House for about 20 minutes Wednesday.
Proud to join House Dems on the Floor to demand action to #disarmhate #NoBillNoBreak pic.twitter.com/qSrwvK2D2k
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) June 22, 2016
Last week, Leahy participated in a filibuster led by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., putting pressure on Senate leadership to allow votes on the gun control amendments.
Between the filibuster and the sit-in, Carle said, “It’s come to a head.”
“These two highly unusual protests in the House and the Senate last week and this week are expressions of the frustration that the American people have,” Carle said.
Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, said he views the protest on the House floor as “very childish.”
“I think what they’ve actually done is, for lack of a better word, aggravate the other side,” Cutler said.
Cutler said his group opposes the two proposals in question. The restrictions on people on the no-fly list, he said, is “unconscionable” and violates both Second and Fourth Amendment rights. He also raised concerns that expanded background checks would lead to an excessive clamp-down.