--- title: House Sit-In: Inside Democrats' Gun Control Sit-In description: House Democrats documented their sit-in for gun legislation on social media Wednesday, after Republicans cut the C-SPAN broadcast feed canonical: https://time.com/4379215/see-inside-house-democrats-gun-control-sit-in/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-22T23:24:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:47:16.388Z article:section: Politics og:title: See Inside House Democrats' Gun Control Sit-In og:description: Lacking a C-SPAN broadcast, Democrats documented the sit-in on social media og:url: https://time.com/4379215/see-inside-house-democrats-gun-control-sit-in/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec4c6f88c391b30/698898fa0b72e306096e9e78/house-of-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A photo tweeted from the floor of the U.S. House by Rep. Edwards shows Democratic House members staging a sit-in over gun legislation in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Inside House Democrats' Gun Control Sit-In twitter:description: Lacking a C-SPAN broadcast, Democrats documented the sit-in on social media twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec4c6f88c391b30/698898fa0b72e306096e9e78/house-of-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Inside House Democrats' Gun Control Sit-In > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 22, 2016 11:24 PM UTC  Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Donna Edwards and John Lewis, staging a sit-in on Capitol Hill, on June 22, 2016. Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Donna Edwards and John Lewis, staging a sit-in on Capitol Hill, on June 22, 2016. U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards—Reuters  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 22, 2016 11:24 PM UTC House Democrats documented their [sit-in for gun control legislation](http://time.com/4378376/gun-control-house-sit-in-congress-orlando-shooting/?xid=homepage) on social media Wednesday, after Republicans called the House into recess and [cut the C-SPAN broadcast feed.](http://time.com/4378912/congress-house-cspan-feed-cut/) Led by Georgia Rep. John Lewis, Democratic representatives and senators shared information about the sit-in through pictures on Twitter and Instagram and live-stream video on Periscope, using the hashtags #HoldTheFloor #GoodTrouble and #NoBillNoBreak. While Lewis’s long career in activism [began with sit-ins during the civil rights movement](http://time.com/4378804/john-lewis-activism-sit-ins-civil-rights-movement/), the wide use of social media on Wednesday demonstrated a shift in how Democrats sought to spread the word about their effort. The photos and videos are technically a violation of rules that forbid photography in the House and Senate chambers. > [](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/745705762492555268) > [](https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/745689753337487361) > [](https://twitter.com/periscopetv/status/745707883556265984) > [](https://twitter.com/RepDonBeyer/status/745704890639486976) > [](https://twitter.com/ScottPetersSD/status/745693620892766208) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4379215/see-inside-house-democrats-gun-control-sit-in/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4379215/see-inside-house-democrats-gun-control-sit-in/"},"headline":"See Inside House Democrats' Gun Control Sit-In","datePublished":"2016-06-22T23:24:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:47:16.388Z","description":"Lacking a C-SPAN broadcast, Democrats documented the sit-in on social media","url":"https://time.com/4379215/see-inside-house-democrats-gun-control-sit-in/","keywords":["Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec4c6f88c391b30/698898fa0b72e306096e9e78/house-of-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec4c6f88c391b30/698898fa0b72e306096e9e78/house-of-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A photo tweeted from the floor of the U.S. House by Rep. 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