Courtney: Walk-Out Over Orlando Shooting Moment of Silence Was About a 'Need' for Gun Legislation

VERNON, CT - U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said Monday’s walkout by state’s Democratic contingent in the U.S. House of Representatives after the call for a moment of silence for the Orlando shooting victims went out was not staged.

There was no time for that, he said.

But he said he was glad he ran into Rep. Jim Himes before the session started to call attention to what he called “a bill that needs to be addressed - now.”

"It was a fly-in day, so we were all arriving back (to Washington). There was really no time to organize anything," Courtney said on Wednesday in a phone interview with Patch. "But John Larson and I saw Jim before the meeting and he told us what he wanted to do. We were glad to join him."

Courtney said the moment of silence lasted just 16 seconds, which set him off anyway.

"C'mon, 16 seconds? I've gone to a ballgame and stood for moments of silence longer than that. Sixteen seconds for Orlando? For 50 people? There have been too many of them since we endured the Newtown shootings here in Connecticut and we want the "No-Fly, No-Buy Bill" brought the the floor. That’s why we walked out."

Courtney said the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings have made the state's members of Congress a little more sensitive to the issue of mass shootings.

"But let’s look at this," he said. "Newtown, Denver, Charleston … I can go on. There have been too many and we need to get this bill to the floor. A moment of silence is not enough when we have common-sense legislation that prevents people on the terrorist watch list and those with serious mental issues from acquiring weapons like this. This is one of the reasons why people hate Congress so much."

Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, spent some time on the federal terror watch list, but was still able to get his hands on an AR-15 assault rifle and Glock pistol, Courtney said. He said that initial red flag should have been enough.

"We have a bill that gives law enforcement the tools to prevent this sort of thing - if you cannot board a plane you cannot get these types of guns," Courtney said. “We have been stonewalled - part, I think by the (National Rifle Association) and part, I think, by the Republicans. We cannot even get this legislation out of committee and into a hearing, never mind debate it in session. We need it on the floor of the House and we need to debate it on the floor of the House."

He said repeated attempts for motions to discuss even the concept of the bills, "get gaveled out of order."

There was disgust in Courtney’s voice.

"It’s been three-and-a-half years since Sandy Hook," he said. "That was enough, and we have had more mass shootings since then. This legislation needs to be debated."

When asked if he would be facing heat from the state’s gun manufacturers, Courtney interjected with what he called "logic."

"I have helped Connecticut manufacturers get contracts with the military," he said. "That is what they are made for. They are not made for people in terror watch lists and people with severe mental illness to obtain."

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel