Rep. Debbie Dingell Will Leave You Feeling Chills Over Her Gun Violence Story

The House Democrats’ sit-in still rages nearly 24 hours later. Paul Ryan did his best gavel-banging routine in an attempt to restore order from the chaos. Still, civil-rights icon John Lewis did not budge, nor did the other protesters. Ultimately, they hope to be taken more seriously than the Senate Democrats, who led a powerful 15-hour filibuster that still yielded failed gun control votes. This undoubtedly has something to do with the staggering NRA donations that many Republicans accept as campaign funds.

After Ryan — who may have been miffed after losing the spotlight on his Affordable Care Act replacement proposal — left the chamber late Thursday evening, Rep. Debbie Dingell took the floor. She’s a relatively new member of Congress after running for the seat formerly occupied by her husband, John, in 2014. Debbie described the constant tension in her marriage over gun control, for John is a gun-rights proponent. She describes her husband as a “responsible gun owner,” but Debbie relates her discomfort with firearms through a chilling story from her childhood. Her family was plagued with domestic violence that endangered her life:

“I lived in a house with a man that should not have had a gun. I know what it’s like to see a gun pointed at you and wonder if you are going to live. And I know what it’s like to hide in a closet and pray to god, ‘Do not let anything happen to me.’ And we don’t talk about it, we don’t want to say that it happens in all kinds of households, and we still live in a society where we will let a convicted villain who was stalking somebody of domestic abuse, still own a gun.”

The video quality isn’t fantastic here, but Dingell’s message still resonates.

On social media, matters of gun control often see a swift and ferocious response from journalist Igor Volsky. Dingell’s speech was no exception, and Volsky’s words reveal his visceral take that echoed across Twitter.