In the wake of the largest mass shooting in U.S. history
Congress finally puts it's partisan politics aside
and banded together
and passed the first major piece of gun control legislation in the last 20 years.
-Really?
No, no. Literally nothing has changed.
Well, not nothing. There was a fifteen hour filibuster
then a twenty five hour sit-in,
a bunch of doughnuts were eaten and pizza was ordered but no bill was passed.
To find out why so much got so little done
we went to the place where nothing gets done.
The nation's capital.
Ignore the scaffolding, it's not usually there.
We sat down with the man behind the fifteen hour
filibuster that had America on the edge of it's seat.
So wait let me get this straight.
You stood for fifteen hours, didn't sleep, didn't drink,
didn't go to the bathroom, and no bill was passed.
What gives?
You know when you're in the minority you only have certain rights and abilities
and so I don't get to schedule votes, but I can
protest the fact that votes aren't being scheduled.
And that's called a filibuster.
I got up and I stood for as long as I could demanding that we take votes on
two common sense measures, things that I think everybody agrees on.
Which is stopping terrorists from getting guns
and making sure that wherever you buy a gun
you've got to prove that you're not a criminal.
So why don't you think that the sit-in and the filibuster,
why don't you think that these things worked?
We still have a lot of people here who are loyal, obedient
to the gun lobby, not to their constituents.
You know this is not a controversial issue out in
the American public.
You know, polls show that 90% of Americans support background checks before you buy a gun
and support keeping terrorists, or would-be terrorists from getting guns.
There's virtually nothing in this country in which
90% of Americans agree.
This is an exceptional issue to have that much
consensus.
And yet, the NRA, the gun lobby, doesn't support it
and right now there are a lot of members of Congress
that are listening to them instead of their constituents.
And during a week where Americans witnessed unprecedented and horrifying
acts of gun violence, the House also decided to
delay voting on a high profile gun bill.
We're not going to rush it, we're going to get it right.
So why are politicians so slow on pushing gun reform?
You may think that they're listening to the NRA over
their constituents because
they get tons of money from them.
But actually it's much more complicated than that.
Sure, in 2014 the NRA contributed a million dollars
to Senate Republican PACs.
Which may seem like a lot
but actually only accounts for less than 2%
of all contributions.
The NRA may not spend as much as other special interests
but they're very strategic with their war chest
going after vulnerable candidates early and often
inciting fear in members of the House and Senate
who are up for re-election
and worried about losing their seats.
For instance, after the NRA gave Senator Dick Lugar
an 'F' rating for his positions on assault rifles
and poured half a million dollars into the Indiana
primary
he lost his bid for re-election.
And the NRA hasn't backed down.
We have a God given right to defend ourself
and the politicians who want to divert attention
from the underlying problems and suggest
that we're somehow to blame will pay a price for it.
But although politicians have remained afraid to disagree with the NRA
some are starting to rebel against it.
Republican senator Kelly Ayotte
voted with Senator Feinstein's democratic proposals
despite potential backlash from the NRA and being in a very tight race for her seat this
fall.
Her re-election could be a test case for other politicians
who may want to stray away from the NRA's hard line.
And if she wins it could encourage others to stand
up to the NRA as well.
And maybe, just maybe, we'd see more politicians start passing the gun reform that most Americans
and gun owners say they want.
Can we do a face swap?
I don’t know what a face swap is.
Do you prefer cronuts or cupcakes?
This is really, really creepy and it’s very hard to answer questions while doing this.
I totally understand.
What was the first thing that you ate after your filibuster was over?
The first thing I ate was a bag of Combos in one of the care packages that was sent back to me.
But in my defense, it was the first things that I saw when I got back to my desk
and I was so hungry that whatever was in that care package I was going to eat.
Oh my God. So Combos...
-yeah
keeps our...
democracy functioning. Yeah.