Gun control advocates join 57 members of Congress on national day of protest

Dozens of occasions held from New York to San Francisco to keep pressure on Republicans to vote on weapon control legislation when House is back in session

Kim Russell was on a date in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 when the discussion relied on the school shooting at Columbine high school 4 days previously.

The Colorado attack was dreadful, she and her date concurred, however they believed it would never ever take place once again.

That very same night, they were robbed at gunpoint. Russell had a weapon held to her head, however she endured. Her date, Philip, was eliminated.

Nearly 20 years later on, after an increasing variety of prominent mass shootings throughout the nation, Russell, Now part of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, stood in a park in Manhattan, holding Philips photo.

She was among numerous weapon control supporters throughout the nation signing up with Democratic members of Congress to keep pressure on House Republicans to act on weapon control legislation when your home is back in session on Tuesday.

At least 57 members of Congress were hosting 38 occasions across the country, according to a tally of occasions from House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who called the sit-in on the flooring of your home a brand-new dawn of a brand-new day in Washington.

At the New York occasion, led by Democratic congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, promotes took a seat and sang a brand-new variation of the civil liberties anthem, We Shall Overcome. We will stop the weapons, they sang.

Congress has actually passed no significant weapon control legislation because the 1994 federal attack weapon restriction, which ended in 2004. Even the mass shooting of 20 first-graders at Sandy Hook primary school in Connecticut was inadequate to end the political opposition to tightening up Americas weapon laws.

Last week, in the wake of the attack on an Orlando bar , the biggest mass shooting in current American history, Democrats staged a remarkable, 26-hour Capitol Hill sit-in, requiring a vote on weapon control legislation. After Republicans cut off the video feed of your house flooring, Democratic political leaders utilized their cellular phones to stream protection of their demonstration. The enthusiastic public reaction appeared to amaze even Democratic leaders, who ended the sit-in with a pledge to keep the momentum going.

In surveys, a bulk of Americans state they prefer more stringent weapon control laws, consisting of needing background look at all weapon sales. The American weapon control motion has actually long had a hard time with a strength space compared to weapon rights supporters. Its not yet clear the number of Americans would appear at Wednesdays regional occasions to support your home Democrats push for more action in Congress. At Congresswoman Maloneys occasion in New York, the turnout was little: about 2 lots individuals, primarily very long time weapon control supporters.