The day that Congressman Joe Kennedy III was sworn into office, Congress held a moment of silence for the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre. In the years following, moments of silence were held for the victims of San Bernardino, the shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel A.M.E. Church, the Washington Navy Yard, and a June 12 massacre at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that killed 49 and injured 53 more. This latest attack, according to Kennedy, is where he drew the line. “Congressional inaction on gun violence has been one, if not the lowest point of my time in Washington,” he said in an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday. “We have had...I don’t know how many moments of silence, and to have them over and over again, starting with Sandy Hook, 26 victims there, and up until ten days ago or so, Orlando with 49… to know that Congress actually does have the ability, and I would say the obligation, to actually do something about it.”
Kennedy participated in a 24-hour sit-in on the floor of the House, as he and other Democratic representatives attempted to disrupt business as usual, hoping to force a vote on two gun control provisions. After representatives shared video of the sit-in on social media, the public reacted with a swell of support, mostly from gun control activists. “After we had been there for about ten hours or so, I walked out to...a crowd gathering,” Kennedy said. “They were still there at four in the morning, and they were still there the next morning, when we finished at about one in the afternoon, it was probably about a thousand people.”
The reaction from House Republicans was not so positive. In response to the sit-in, House Speaker Paul Ryan formally adjourned the body until July 5. "This is nothing more than a publicity stunt," Ryan said. "This is not about a solution to a problem. This is about trying to get attention."
The two provisions members of the sit-in were hoping to push forward are also controversial. The first proposal would prevent suspected terrorists on the No-Fly list from purchasing guns. The second would mandate universal background checks and close loopholes around gun shows, ensuring that only law-abiding citizens are able to purchase guns. Critics of these proposals, including Speaker Ryan, argue that terror watchlists, including the No-Fly List, are flawed, containing many names that have been wrongly selected. For those who have been wrongly selected, (including, famously, Kennedy’s great uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy), won’t that take away a constitutional right from the wrong people?
Kennedy dismissed these claims. “Look, this is a human list, and so yes, there are going to be mistakes on it,” he said. “I think we can scrub that list, there are ways that we can try to control the due process.”
Kennedy cited proposals created by Congressman Mike Thompson, an avid hunter, Vietnam veteran and gun owner, who wrote an initiative to “scrub” the No-Fly List to protect the right to due process. “That’s a critique I don’t think holds all that much water,” Kennedy said, arguing that Ryan’s objection only applies to one proposal.
“What’s your response then, Mr. Speaker, about not allowing the CDC to do a study?” Kennedy said. “What’s your response to saying, ‘you know what, we actually have prohibited the consumer product safety commission from actually reissuing guidelines on gun safety? What’s your issue for saying gun companies should have additional liability protection that hardly any other industry actually enjoys?”
“We have a systematic protection out there,” Kennedy said, “to allow for proliferation of guns in this country that… has a very real impact on families in this country every single day.”
Congressman Joe Kennedy III serves Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional district. To hear his full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio link above.
