WASHINGTON — Rebellious Democrats disrupted the House’s legislative work on Wednesday, staging a sit-in on the House floor and refusing to leave until they secured a vote on gun control measures. Exasperated Republicans were forced to recess while cutting off the C-SPAN cameras that showed the protest.

A group of nearly 100 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. It was the worst shooting in modern U.S. history.

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

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, said the Democrats are taking the wrong approach.

“Recent tragedies have heightened the need for our country to have a conversation about the terrorist threats we are facing at home and abroad. We need to be focused on the real fight — combating ISIS and Islamic terrorism — but congressional Democrats are trying to twist the narrative to serve their political agenda and curtail constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment rights,” Collins said in a statement to The Times.

“Instead of posing for pictures, it’s time for Democrats to end their staged C-SPAN fight and come to the table to talk about how to prevent future brutal attacks on our homeland and stop the spread of ISIS’ radical ideology.”

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 revered by Democrats, said action on gun violence is long overdue.

“We have lost hundreds and thousands of innocent people to gun violence,” Lewis said as he urged fellow Democrats to stand with him in the area near the podium, known as the well.

“What has this body done” to respond to the violence, Lewis asked, 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? How many more mothers … and fathers need to shed tears of grief?”

About 30 minutes after Wednesday’s sit-in began, 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.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said lawmakers were “calling for the simple dignity of a vote.” Joining the protest was Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who had waged a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week to force the Monday votes in the Senate.

Ryan said Wednesday that House leaders were “waiting to see what the Senate does before proceeding” on gun legislation, including a possible compromise being sought by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Earlier in the week, a divided Senate blocked rival election-year plans to curb gun violence.

In largely party-line votes, senators Monday rejected one proposal from each side to keep extremists from acquiring guns and a second shoring up the government’s system of required background checks for many firearms purchases.

Democrats called the GOP proposals unacceptably weak while Republicans said the Democratic plans were too restrictive.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., proposed letting the government block many gun sales to known or suspected terrorists. The GOP response to Feinstein was an NRA-backed plan by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas that would let the government deny a sale to a known or suspected terrorist — but only if prosecutors could convince a judge within three days that the would-be buyer was involved in terrorism.

Republicans said Feinstein’s proposal gave the government too much power to deny people’s constitutional right to own a gun and noted that the terrorist watch list has mistakenly included some people. Democrats said the three-day window Cornyn’s measure gave prosecutors to prove their case made his plan ineffective.

Republican Georgia Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue also voted along party lines.

“As we confront a global security crisis and the most heinous act of terror here in America since 9/11, keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is absolutely a priority,” said Perdue in a statement released Monday. “We can all agree on that. The common-sense solutions I supported today would help keep guns away from terrorists while protecting the constitutional rights of all law-abiding Americans. Unfortunately, partisan politics stalled these efforts. This clearly warrants a full and serious debate in order to get the policy right.”

Isakson echoed Perdue’s take on gun control.

“We must roll up our sleeves and redouble our efforts to ensure that we are using every resource at our disposal to enable our federal and local law enforcement agents to locate, monitor and stop domestic terrorism,” Isakson said in a statement released Monday. “I supported two common-sense measures today that would keep weapons out of the hands of suspected terrorists, while ensuring that the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens are not infringed upon.”