House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called on Republican Speaker Paul Ryan to allow the chamber to vote on bipartisan legislation calling for stronger background checks after the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 and injured 489 others.
"All we want is a vote," the California Democrat told Chris Cuomo in a town hall forum on CNN. "I feel quite certain there would be bipartisan support to pass the background check bill."
Legislation to close loopholes in the national background checks system was introduced in March 2015 by Republican Rep. Peter King of New York and Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson, also of California.
"We have a number of people who have said they would support the bill," Pelosi told Cuomo.
"Let me just say to Speaker Ryan: Just give us a vote. The only reason you won't give us a vote is if you think we would win, but that's a reason to give us a vote."
Pelosi, 77, who was first elected to Congress in 1986, then quoted former President Abraham Lincoln: "Public sentiment is everything.
"This is time for the public really to weigh in," she said. "We just have to keep persisting.
"Because we have these moments of silence — and, certainly, we want to be prayerful and respectful in a moment of silence.
"But people are impatient of that. They want action. And action is possible.
"We have the bill. It's bipartisan. Give us a vote," Pelosi emphasized.
"American people support the background check bill. This is not an extreme.
"This is commonsense — and it would save the most lives."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.