- The Washington Times - Monday, October 2, 2017

Rep. Seth Moulton announced he is boycotting a moment of silence on the House floor for victims of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas as a protest against Congress’ inaction on gun control.

“I will not be standing with my colleagues in a moment of silence that just becomes an excuse for inaction in the House of Representatives today,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a video statement Monday. “I will work to do something about this problem so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Mr. Moulton made a similar move last summer after the deadly terror attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. He and two other Democrats walked out of the moment of silence in the House held for the 49 shooting victims.

“As after #Orlando, I will NOT be joining my colleagues in a moment of silence on the House Floor that just becomes an excuse for inaction,” he wrote on Twitter Monday morning, hours after a lone gunman opened fire on a crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 515 others attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival.

Mr. Moulton also challenged Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan to allow a Congressional debate on gun control legislation.

“@SpeakerRyan, how many Americans have to die before you do your job?” he asked on Twitter. “Allow us to have a debate and a vote. You’re letting America down.”

“I don’t know how many innocent Americans have to die before Republican leadership has the courage to have a debate about this,” Mr. Moulton told Boston.com after the Forbes Under 30 Summit Monday morning. “Not even to vote for it, I’m just saying to have a debate.”

He said he wants to talk about universal background checks.

“Nine out of 10 Americans support them,” Mr. Moulton told Boston.com. “There’s a lot of evidence that shows it would reduce the chances of crimes like these. It wouldn’t entirely stop them, but it would help. We should have passed universal background checks years ago.”

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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