“You’ve got to listen to your members,” Rep. Pete Sessions said. | AP Photo House GOP delays gun vote after own members object

House GOP leaders have decided to postpone a vote on an “anti-terrorism” package amid Republican objections over amendments and concerns about rewarding Democrats for their daylong gun control “sit-in” on the House floor.

A roll call had been expected Wednesday on a House GOP gun proposal responding to the massacre in Orlando last month. Republicans now say they hope to take up the legislation by the end of the week.


The House Rules Committee also scuttled consideration of rules governing debate for the measure, Rules Chairman Pete Sessions told reporters.

“It’s a delay,” the Texas Republican said upon exiting a leadership meeting in Speaker Paul Ryan’s office. “We’re going to wait. Enough members don’t have enough information. Some people are saying: What did the Senate do?”

Sessions added that, “We did not, in my opinion, vet [the package] to get everybody’s feedback.”

“You’ve got to listen to your members,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is work toward resolution so we’re on the same page.”

The package would require the Justice Department to prove within 72 hours of a gun purchase that there is “probable cause” that an individual is involved in terrorism, thereby blocking the purchase. The Senate already rejected a similar pitch by Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). The bill would also mandate the Homeland Security Department to create an office to counter “radicalization” of American citizens by Islamic extremists and report its plan for doing so to Congress. And it would require an annual review of the terror “watch list” maintained by the FBI.

A senior GOP leadership aide downplayed the delay, saying the vote was never officially slated for Wednesday, just sometime this week. The source did not anticipate problems passing the bill, which Republicans still hope to do by Friday. The source also noted that GOP members simply want more time to read and discuss the bill, something they’re expected to do during a meeting of the GOP conference Wednesday morning.

But some members are clearly unhappy . The House Freedom Caucus is expected to discuss some members' displeasure with the handling of the gun package at a meeting Tuesday evening, one caucus member told POLITICO. The lawmaker said they were upset because they weren’t promised votes on amendments to the package.

“Dems do a ‘sit in’ and get a response from our leadership, but the Republican majority wants amendments and we can’t get any?” said the lawmaker.

He wasn’t keen on the package over all: “The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) provisions look like a disaster.”

Republicans members have offered at least 10 gun-related amendments to the package. But leadership was hoping to keep amendments — particularly Democratic amendments — to a minimum so as to avoid giving the left the vote on the gun measures they’ve been seeking all along.

Republicans worry that giving Democrats votes on their gun provisions, which could be offered as amendments, would only reward their behavior on the floor during the daylong protest. Republicans said the sit-in was an affront to the institution, and they want to be careful not to appear to be caving in response.