“I am sick and tired of a few moments of silence on the House floor,” Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said during the closed-door meeting, according to a source. | Andrew Harnik/AP Dems raise pressure on GOP after Las Vegas shooting House and Senate Democrats are demanding Republicans — including Trump — consider gun control measures after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

House Democrats will gather on the Capitol steps Wednesday in a solemn protest against Republican inaction on gun control following the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Democrats decided on the plan during their weekly caucus meeting Tuesday morning.


“I am sick and tired of a few moments of silence on the House floor,” Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said during the closed-door meeting, according to a source.

A lone gunman shot hundreds of concert goers on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night, killing at least 58 and wounding more than 500.

The shooting is highly unlikely to spark action in the GOP-controlled Congress for gun control legislation sought by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats. But the Las Vegas attack has slowed momentum for a House GOP bill that would ease restrictions on gun silencers.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) previewed his caucus' strategy for pressing the issue on Tuesday by urging President Donald Trump to "come out against the absurd law about silencers."

"Threaten a veto if he must, and put an end to that bill," Schumer said on the floor. "I am also calling on President Trump to bring together the leaders of Congress and let both sides know he is ready and willing to address this issue of gun safety head on."

Trump suggested on Tuesday that he may address gun control at some point, telling reporters that "we'll be talking about gun laws as time goes by."

Last year, Democrats, led in part by Lewis, seized the House floor for 24 hours, refusing to relinquish control until Republicans agreed to vote on a gun control bill. That didn’t happen.

Several Democrats say they haven’t ruled out similar action in response to the Las Vegas shooting but aren’t planning to do that yet. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who became a leading gun control advocate after her own wounding in a 2011 mass shooting, plans to attend the House Democratic protest on Wednesday.

Lewis approached Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on the House floor Monday night to ask if he would attend the protest, and Ryan declined, according to multiple Democratic sources.

At a news conference Tuesday, Ryan said that "mental health reform is a critical ingredient to making sure that we can try and prevent" mass shootings like the Las Vegas attack.

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But Ryan also defended the GOP's February vote to roll back an Obama-era regulation that would have sent information to the national background check database on individuals deemed to be mentally impaired.

“There were people whose rights were being infringed, and that wasn’t just — it’s a little more complicated than you’re describing it," Ryan told reporters.

Ryan said little about the prospects for the controversial gun silencer bill, telling reporters that "I don't know when it's going to be scheduled." He then began touting the GOP's planned vote this week on a budget that paves the way for tax reform.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who represented the House district where 20 children and six teachers were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, said Monday that he plans to introduce new background checks legislation following the Las Vegas shooting.

Murphy plans to spotlight the issue later Tuesday alongside Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has championed gun control since the 1978 assassination of two of her then-fellow San Francisco city leaders, is also expected to play a key role in Senate Democrats' push for action. Feinstein has authored a bill that would ban the "bump stocks" that this week's Las Vegas attacker used to boost his rate of firing.