An Animated Courtney Reiterates Plea for "No-Fly, No-Buy" Gun Legislation on House Floor

U.S. Rep Joe Courtney on Thursday took to another level his quest to force the U.S. House of Representatives to bring "no-fly, no-buy" gun control legislation to the floor.

Courtney, a Vernon resident and 2nd District Democrat, took to the podium on Thursday and made an impassioned plea to formally discuss the draft, which would essentially impose firearms acquisition restrictions on those included on terror watch lists and those with severe mental illness.

"If you cannot get on a plane, why should you be able to buy a high-powered gun? he asked rhetorically last week in an interview with Patch.

On Thursday, Courtney was emotional, animated and was yelling when he had the House floor during a Democratic sit-in designed to lobby House leadership to take up formal, public discussions on the legislation. His office supplied a copy of a video taken of him by a House member and shown on C-Span.

Click here to see excerpts of Courtney's Thursday speech.

Courtney was front and center on Wednesday as the sit-in started getting serious.

“It is unconscionable that after 49 people were murdered last week in just the latest mass shooting that the only response by Speaker Paul Ryan and the majority party is a 16-second moment of silence,” Courtney said. “My Democratic colleagues and I will not be silent in the face of unrelenting gun violence on a daily basis. The American people are with us, with ninety-plus percent supporting the closing gun show and internet sales loophole. We will continue to demand up-or-down votes on common sense legislation until we get this done.”

Courtney was also part of a walk-out in the first House session after the Orlando night club shootings.

See his comments made to Patch on that and the "no-fly, not buy" legislation here.

The sit-in concluded after 26 hours.

Said Courtney, “As one of the first members to sit on the House floor Wednesday morning following Rep. John Lewis’s call to action, I was able to participate in nearly the entire 26-hour protest. I spoke out twice against continued Republican inaction and highlighted that one of the deadliest mass shootings in our nation’s history took place blocks away from the Capitol building at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013. There have been so many similar mass tragedies over the past decade that this one seems to never receive the attention and mourning it deserves. Twelve loyal and hardworking civilian employees of the Navy lost their lives after simply showing up for work one Monday morning.

“I want to thank Rep. John Larson for leading the sit-in along with the civil-rights icon Rep. John Lewis. The House of Representatives needed to be reminded of the gravity of this issue, and I credit Larson and Lewis with doing just that. For 26-hours, they focused the attention of the nation on congressional Republicans complete abdication of their role to protect the American people. While we have not yet received the votes we are asking for, I think it’s clear that the tide has turned in favor of those advocating for common sense solutions to the ongoing epidemic of gun violence gripping this nation.”

Photo Credit: U.S. Rep Joe Courtney's office.

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