House Democrats, including Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, conducted a sit-in on the House floor Wednesday in an attempt to force a vote on two gun-control proposals.

The two bills target different types of gun-control. The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act would prevent those on the no-fly list from buying guns. The other, the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act, would expand background checks for gun sales that take place over the internet and at gun shows.

“Like an overwhelming majority of Americans and my Nevada constituents, I support commonsense reforms to our nation’s gun laws,” Titus said in a statement Wednesday. “This is about taking reasonable, responsible action to make our communities safer. With more than 108,000 Americans shot every year, our nation has mourned the loss of too many innocent lives as a result of gun violence.”

Exasperated Republicans were forced to recess while cutting off cameras that showed the protest. But in an unprecedented step, C-SPAN used live video feeds from one lawmaker’s Periscope account and another’s Facebook page to transmit words and images from the House chamber. 

More than 200 Democrats led by Georgia Rep. John Lewis demanded a vote on measures to expand background checks and block gun purchases by some suspected terrorists in the aftermath of last week’s massacre in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people in a gay nightclub.

“No bill, no break,” shouted Democrats, who demanded that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., keep the House in session through its planned break next week to vote on gun legislation.

Democrats accused Republicans of political cowardice by failing to schedule a vote.

“Are they more afraid than the children at Sandy Hook?” asked Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., referring to the 2012 shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 elementary school children, in Newtown, Connecticut. “What is so scary about having a vote?”

Lewis, a veteran civil rights leader, asked what Congress has done, then answered his own question: “Nothing. We have turned a deaf ear to the blood of innocents. We are blind to a crisis. Where is our courage?”

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., called Republicans “cowards.”

As the sit-in progressed through the day, Sen. Harry Reid joined his fellow Democrats on the House floor.

“The American people are demanding Congress acts to stop the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our nation, and they support commonsense reforms to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists and other dangerous criminals,” Reid said in an emailed statement. “Republicans need to join Democrats in both houses of Congress and put the safety of innocent Americans ahead of the NRA.”

Nevada Republicans looked at the sit-in as little more than political antics from the Democrats.

Rep. Cresent Hardy said such “political stunts aren’t an adequate substitute for a clear strategy to defeat ISIS.”

Greg Lemon, spokesman for Rep. Joe Heck, said the congressman agrees that reducing gun violence is a priority, “but the proposals being put forward currently are just being used to score political points.”

“If we want to reduce gun violence we should get serious about mental health issues, fully funding the NCIS background check system, and prosecuting the straw-man buyers who help criminals get guns and those who are already prohibited from purchasing a firearm but still attempt to do so,” Lemon said in an email Wednesday.

Ryan dismissed the protest as “nothing more than a publicity stunt.” In an interview with CNN, the Speaker said the House will not vote on a “bill that takes away a person’s due process.”

Republicans emerging from a closed-door meeting said they would hold votes on other legislation, but not the gun votes demanded by the Democrats.

“We are going to go about our business starting tonight,” said Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. Democrats were certain to challenge any move.

The protest began around 11:30 a.m., interrupted briefly when Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, tried to start the House’s work at noon. The customary prayer and pledge of allegiance went ahead, but Poe was forced to recess the House when dozens of Democrats refused to leave the well.

By late afternoon, 168 House Democrats — out of 188 — and 34 Senate Democrats joined the protest, according to the House minority leader’s office, and there was no sign of quitting.

Congress remains gridlocked over gun control, a divide even more pronounced in a presidential election year. The sit-in had the feel of a 1960s-style protest, as some lawmakers sat on the floor, others in their seats.

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said he was proud of his fellow Democrats and offered a rebuke to Ryan and other GOP leaders, who were absent from the chamber most of the day.

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Rush said to cheers from his Democratic colleagues.

Republicans had staged a similar protest in 2008. Democrats controlling the House at the time turned off the cameras amid a GOP push for a vote to expand oil and gas drilling. Republicans occupied the floor, delivering speeches after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the House on its August recess. Pelosi ordered the cameras turned off.

Republicans ultimately forced the drilling provision to be attached to a stopgap spending bill.

C-SPAN, a cable and satellite network that provides continual coverage of House and Senate floor proceedings, does not control the cameras. They’re run on authorization by legislative leaders.

Although the cameras were turned off Wednesday, lawmakers relied on social media to transmit video, using Facebook, Twitter and Periscope. C-SPAN broadcast live video streamed on Periscope and Facebook from lawmakers’ accounts. Democrats posted the Capitol’s main telephone number, which was overwhelmed, and urged constituents to call and request a vote. They also encouraged tweeting under the hashtag #NoBillNoBreak.

Joining the protest were more than a dozen Democratic senators, including Reid, and Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who had waged a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week to force votes in the Senate on gun legislation. Those votes failed on Monday night.

Ryan said Wednesday that House leaders were “waiting to see what the Senate does before proceeding” on gun legislation, including a possible compromise that Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is seeking.

Democrats cited polls showing broad public support for expanding background checks for firearms purchases and blocking suspected terrorists from buying guns.

Pelosi, now the minority leader, said the House needs to act on gun legislation, rather than continually hold moments of silence in memory of victims of gun violence.

“We truly believe that if there were a vote that we would win the vote, because 85 to 90 percent of the American people … support responsible background checks legislation,” Pelosi said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.