| Advertisement |
Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is leading a chorus of calls to pressure lawmakers -- particularly Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell -- to cut short their summer recess to address gun control legislation. Ryan led a Caravan for Change through Ohio and Kentucky Thursday, partnered with Moms Demand Change to push for "reasonable solutions to address our nation's culture of gun violence."
Advertisement
The 2020 presidential candidate and other caravan members want Senate Republicans to consider two gun control resolutions passed by the House this year. They would mandate stronger background checks for gun sales nationwide.
"It's been 150+ days since the House passed 2 comprehensive gun reform bills & Mitch McConnell still has done nothing. That's unacceptable," Ryan tweeted. "We have to demand action from Mitch McConnell. And the Senate must be allowed to vote on the bipartisan, House-passed gun reform legislation."
The caravan follows three shooting attacks in the last two weeks that killed three dozen people. Ryan suspended his presidential campaign in the wake of the shootings in Texas and Ohio last weekend.
"We have to continue to demand action from Mitch McConnell," Ryan tweeted Thursday. "And the Senate must be allowed to vote on the bipartisan, House-passed gun reform legislation. ... Bring them to the floor."
The caravan stopped in five cities in Ohio Thursday -- including Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati -- before crossing into Kentucky, where the day ended at city plaza next to the Muhammad Ali Center in McConnell's home town of Louisville. The Senate GOP leader is in the city recovering with a broken shoulder.
McConnell has so far refused to cut short lawmakers' summer recess, which lasts until next month, saying previously there is no rush to take up gun legislation -- a position he seemed to soften Thursday.
"What we can't do is fail to pass something," he told WHAS radio. "The urgency of this is not lost on any of us."
The Senate is in recess until Sept. 6.
