Republicans Push Back on Democratic Gun-Control Efforts

U.S. congressional Republicans on Tuesday resisted Democratic demands for a vote on gun-control measures and warned that some could face punishment for an unusual sit-in last month that tied up the House of Representatives for 25 hours.

With Democrats already rejecting a Republican gun bill and warning of further protests, the House appeared to be heading for renewed discord over gun restrictions following the June 12 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Hours before he was due to discuss gun legislation with two Democrats who led the sit-in, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he believed their proposals would violate the U.S. Constitution and warned he would not "incentivize" more disruption.

"The last thing we are going to do is surrender the floor over to these kinds of tactics when we know it's going to compromise the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens," Ryan told radio station WTMJ in Milwaukee.

"We're asking for a simple vote," Representative John Larson, one of the two Democrats due to meet Ryan, said later. "That's what we're elected to do."

At a press briefing, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said he and Ryan would also meet with the chamber's top enforcement official this week to talk about reports that some Democrats at the June 22-23 sit-in engaged in "intimidation" while carrying out their protest.

Ryan has announced that the House will vote this week on a measure intended to keep guns out of the hands of people the government suspects of involvement in violent extremism. But Democrats say the legislation is inadequate because authorities would have only three days to convince a judge that a gun sale should be blocked.

"Ninety-one people die each day from gun violence in this country and the best Speaker Ryan can muster is a meaningless bill," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi aide Drew Hammill.

Democrats want votes on measures that would expand background checks and allow the government to block gun sales to suspected extremists without first getting a judge's approval.

Six people who said they lost family and loved ones to gun violence were arrested in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, after a protest demanding Congress reject the Ryan measure and vote on the Democratic measures. Police said they were charged with misdemeanors.

McCarthy said Republicans were gathering facts on the June sit-in and would decide whether to seek punishment against Democrats.