By Congressman and PJC Member Peter Welch

The sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives protesting Congress' inaction on gun violence was something I never in a million years thought I would do. But since 20 children were slaughtered in Newtown, there have been over 1,000 mass shootings. We've had 30 gun-related moments of silence in Congress. Thirty. And in those three years, every moment of silence was followed by complete inaction on the part of Congress. We didn't have committee hearings. We didn't have a debate. We didn't have a vote. We did nothing.

  

I returned to Congress after the Orlando tragedy completely heartsick. All of us were. Just think about the profiles we saw of people who were there -- a mother who was dancing with her son, and threw herself between the bullet and her son. She died and her son lived. That was the last act of love by this woman to her son -- and we do nothing? Many of my colleagues and I decided the status quo wasn't working and were determined to do something about it. Yes, it was unconventional. And no, legislators shouldn't be doing that. But what we should be doing is legislating, and we haven't been doing that. My point to speaker Ryan: put this bill on the floor for a vote. When Congress won't even debate the issues of enormous consequence -- after 1,000 mass shootings in the past three years -- then Congress isn't doing its job. So, following civil rights giant John Lewis, I took an extraordinary step to protest that inaction.

  

 Congressmen Peter Welch and John Lewis