By: Christine Mai-Duc Days after participating in a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Los Angeles) brought an event of her own to her South Los Angeles district. The setting, the multi-purpose room of a high school, was far less ornate and the participants sat in chairs, Hahn noted. But, she added, the sentiment was the same. "I'm sick of moments of silence. I'm sick of silence," Hahn said. "Let's not take 'no' for an answer. We've had too much gun violence in this country." The evening opened with a clip of Rep. John Lewis' (D-Ga.) impassioned speech at the Washington sit-in, in which he called on House leaders to call a vote for two gun control measures. Hahn spoke in front of a wall plastered with the photos of dozens of victims of gun violence, with their names, ages and the cities where they died inscribed beneath. "I'm not going to be shut down on this issue. They can turn off our [microphones], they can turn off the cameras," she said. "But I'm not going to be shut down." One after another, community members and constituents rose to speak tearfully about friends and family members they had lost to shootings. A woman whose nephew had been shot multiple times in the back spoke, along with a mother who said she's afraid for her gay son's safety after the Orlando shooting. A man whose son was killed 24 years ago said he still cries every day for him. "These types of guns don't belong here," said Basil Kimbrew, whose son was killed in 1992. "I'm a strong, black man but when it comes to my kid, I wobble, you know?" He urged Hahn to "do what you have to do...please send a message to Speaker of the House." Two gun rights supporters also addressed the crowd, raising issues about restricting Syrian refugees and encroachment on 2nd Amendment rights. They were booed by the crowd before being allowed to continue. "When you do a sit-in, you do it to get rights, not take rights away," said one speaker, who called the congressional sit-in a "waste of time."

By: Chelsea Edwards The mass sit-in at the House of Representatives was duplicated in San Pedro on a small scale, but charged with emotion. U.S. Representative Janice Hahn continued the crusade for tougher gun control laws as she listened to plea after emotional plea Tuesday evening. "I'm here speaking on behalf of my sister who was murdered just last year," Josiah Broderick of Long Beach said. "We shouldn't just be bystanders and just let this pass us by. All of us together need to try to pull together and stop it." Broderick's sister Alicia was an honor student at Long Beach City College when she was killed. More than 100 people came together in San Pedro for a community sit-in. Most had been affected by gun violence in some way. Adding to the emotion were visual displays as pairs of shoes belonging to the victims of gun violence were arranged in the room. Hahn, a Democrat, participated in last week's 25-hour sit in on the House floor and demanded a vote on gun reform. "We wanted to keep it alive, we wanted to bring that sit-in home to our district. We want the American people to rise up," Hahn said. But not everyone who spoke at the event was in support of reform. "The answer is not gun control," Arthur Schaper of South Bay said. "That 25 hour sit-in was a waste of time. When you do a sit-in, you do it to get rights, not take rights away." Hahn listened to each speaker and said she planned to take each one of their stories back to Washington, D.C. next week.

By: Janice Hahn Fourteen county workers in San Bernardino, nine parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church, 12 military employees in Navy Yard, 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and now 49 members of the LGBT community in Orlando, Fla. The attack last weekend in a gay nightclub has shocked the nation. It is the deadliest in a long and growing list of mass shootings that have become a disturbing trademark of the United States, setting us apart from every other developed nation in the worst way. The American people are scared and angry -- and they should be. After every attack, a number of my colleagues in Congress have stood in the way of enacting even the most obvious reforms to prevent the next one and protect human life. There are effective and common-sense solutions that the American people want implemented. We need to reinstate the assault-weapons ban to get mass shooters' weapon of choice out of our neighborhoods, and implement universal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. Would these reforms have saved lives in Orlando? I am not sure, but doing nothing is not the answer. The American people are demanding action, and we must try anything we can to prevent further attacks. We have a long way to go toward ending gun violence, but we have to start somewhere with something I believe we can all agree on: keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have gone to great lengths to stop terrorist attacks. Travelers must go through a full-body scanner before boarding a plane. Passengers cannot even bring a bottle of shampoo in their carry-on luggage. Federal authorities compile lists of suspected terrorists, and none of those individuals are allowed on a plane. And yet, the suspected terrorists who have been deemed too dangerous to fly have nothing standing in the way of them buying an AR-15 at their nearest superstore and committing the same atrocity that we saw most recently in Orlando. Gun violence has terrorized communities in this country for years, but it is time to also address it as a threat to our national security. Our lax gun laws are not a secret. Terrorist leaders know that the military style assault weapons readily available at stores can do as much -- if not more -- damage than bombs. ISIS and Al Qaeda recruiters know this is our weakness and have been urging lone-wolf attackers to take advantage of it for years. Yet, many of my colleagues in Congress who have claimed to be tough on terrorism have stood in the way of efforts to close the terror loophole. My message to them: You are not tough enough. Last year, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and former Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., introduced legislation that would ban individuals on the no-fly list from buying firearms and explosives and empower federal authorities to stop individuals they suspect of having terrorist ties from purchasing guns that may be used for terrorist activities. The American people are resoundingly behind this proposal. Members of Congress doing the bidding of the gun lobby are the only people standing in the way of its passage. After a 15-hour filibuster by my Senate colleagues, Senate Republicans have agreed to consider holding a vote on gun reform. This is an encouraging step. I implore you to call your representative and your senators. Urge them to support "No Fly, No Buy." This is common-sense legislation that can save lives.