--- title: House Sit-In: Top 5 Moments of the Gun Control Fight description: Democratic lawmakers attracted protesters, angry Republicans and a swarm of social media posts with their day-long hold of the House floor. canonical: https://time.com/4380296/house-sitin-democrats-gun-control-video/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-23T19:20:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:49:02.538Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch the 5 Most Interesting Moments of the House Sit-In og:description: From fighting to bursting into song. og:url: https://time.com/4380296/house-sitin-democrats-gun-control-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3087f4b8dc3c5de/69889911cd1bba14f9701370/congress-sit-in-guns1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-ATTACKS-GAY-POLITICS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the 5 Most Interesting Moments of the House Sit-In twitter:description: From fighting to bursting into song. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3087f4b8dc3c5de/69889911cd1bba14f9701370/congress-sit-in-guns1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the 5 Most Interesting Moments of the House Sit-In by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jun 23, 2016 7:20 PM UTC  Rep. Esty(2n-L) with Rep. John Lewis(C) and other members of Congress staging a sit-in on the floor of the US House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 2016. Rep. Esty(2n-L) with Rep. John Lewis(C) and other members of Congress staging a sit-in on the floor of the US House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 2016.AFP/Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jun 23, 2016 7:20 PM UTC Democratic lawmakers attracted national attention, angry Republicans and a swarm of social media posts with their day-long hold of the House floor. Using social media to broadcast their sit-in, House Democrats and some visiting Senate colleagues demanded that Republican Speaker Paul Ryan allow a vote on gun control measures. The Speaker and his Republican colleagues refused to budge, and the protest ended just after 1 p.m. Thursday. Lawmakers have promised to resume on July 5, when the House is scheduled to gavel back into session. Here’s a look at five of the most interesting moments of the sit-in. **Democrats revolt against Speaker Paul Ryan** Almost 12 hours into the sit-in, Ryan attempted to retake control of the House floor with his Republican colleagues. GOP members streamed into the House as Democrats chanted, “No bill, no break!” House cameras were briefly turned back on to document the drama. Democrats held pieces of paper with the names of victims of the Orlando shooting. **Rep. Louie Gohmert shouts at Democratic colleagues** As Democrats continued to occupy the House floor, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas decided he had enough. Gohmert walked up to Democrats and began yelling, “Radical Islam!” Democrats yelled back and eventually separated Gohmert from the core group at the center of the House. **Democrats sing ‘We shall pass a bill someday’** Around 10:30 p.m., as the House voted on legislation unrelated to guns, Democrats broke into song. They held hands and sang, “We shall overcome,” an anthem of the civil rights movement. In certain verses, Democrats amended the song, singing, “We shall pass a bill someday.” **Rep. Keith Ellison gets a note from his mom** While meeting with Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council tweeted that the House member got a note from his scheduler. “Your mom called and wants you on the floor,” the note read. Parsi’s #NoBillNoBreak tweet spread quickly on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/tparsi/status/745668721365098496) **Democrats turn to the Internet** Because the House was technically not in session for most of the Democratic sit-in, the cameras were turned off. The outside world was blind to what was happening inside. But only briefly. Various Democrats began livestreaming the sit-in on platforms like Facebook and Periscope. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California has done multiple livestreams. His [current Periscope of the House](https://www.periscope.tv/w/1MYGNBELmWnGw) has been going since 5 a.m. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4380296/house-sitin-democrats-gun-control-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4380296/house-sitin-democrats-gun-control-video/"},"headline":"Watch the 5 Most Interesting Moments of the House Sit-In","datePublished":"2016-06-23T19:20:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:49:02.538Z","description":"From shouting matches to songs","url":"https://time.com/4380296/house-sitin-democrats-gun-control-video/","keywords":["Congress","democrats","Gun Control","Guns","Paul Ryan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3087f4b8dc3c5de/69889911cd1bba14f9701370/congress-sit-in-guns1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3087f4b8dc3c5de/69889911cd1bba14f9701370/congress-sit-in-guns1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ATTACKS-GAY-POLITICS","caption":"Rep. 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