[ad_1]
@ LAURENBOEBERT / TWITTER
US Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has promised to carry a gun while on Capitol Hill, saying it is her “best security.”
One of the newest members of Congress, Republican Lauren Boebert of Colorado, kicked off the session with a viral digital ad proclaiming her right to carry firearms on the grounds of the United States Capitol and on the streets of Washington DC.
Boebert, the owner of a gun restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, posted the video on Sunday (NZT Monday) amid efforts by some Democrats to ban members from carrying guns on Capitol grounds, which they have been allowed do. since 1967.
“Even though I now work in one of the most liberal cities in America,” Boebert says in the ad, “I refused to give up my rights, especially my Second Amendment rights. I will carry my firearm in DC and the Congress”.
READ MORE:
* The full transcript and audio of Donald Trump’s call with Georgia election officials.
* Did Donald Trump break the law in his call to the Georgia secretary of state?
* Republicans condemn ‘plan’ to undo Trump’s election
* US Elections: Trump Requires Georgia Official to Recalculate Vote in One-Hour Telephone Spout
The ad appears to show Boebert walking near federal buildings and also in alleys on Capitol Hill, citing the rise in violent crime in DC as the reason he wants to wear a Glock on his hip.
“I walk to my office alone every morning,” says Boebert. “So as a 5-foot-tall, 100-pound woman, I choose to protect myself legally, because I’m my best security.
He accuses Washington DC residents of not understanding “how we live in the real United States,” echoing the rhetoric of anti-American Republicans who have suggested that people living in the nation’s capital are somehow separated from the rest of the United States. U.S.
The city’s concealment laws do not recognize concealment licenses from other states, and non-residents are prohibited from carrying firearms unless they register them with the DC police. A 1967 regulation exempts members of Congress from a federal law that bans firearms on the Capitol grounds.
New DC Police Chief Robert Contee III said Monday that Boebert would be subject to the same penalties as anyone caught on the streets of the District illegally carrying a firearm.
“There are no exceptions in the District of Columbia,” he said. “We plan to contact the congresswoman’s office to make sure she knows what the laws of the District of Columbia are, what the restrictions are.”
It was not immediately clear whether Boebert had registered his firearm with DC police; a campaign spokeswoman forwarded the comment to her congressional office, which did not immediately respond Monday.
Boebert, who defeated Scott R. Tipton in a Republican primary, caused a stir in November when he reportedly asked the United States Capitol Police about the rules for carrying guns on the grounds.
Weeks later, Democrats led by California Congressman Jared Huffman wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, asking them to amend gun regulations to ban the members bear arms. Huffman spearheaded a similar effort in 2018, to no avail.
The 1967 law, signed by Democratic President Lyndon B Johnson, in the wake of the race riots, and the Capitol Police Board regulations that followed still prohibit members of Congress from carrying firearms in any of the legislative chambers. . But the exemptions allow them to transport weapons on the ground and keep them in their offices.
Democrats expected the House leadership to ban firearms as part of the House Rules package for the 117th Congress, but gun regulations were not addressed in the package under consideration Monday.
A Pelosi spokesperson, Drew Hammill, said Pelosi supports a ban on firearms on Capitol grounds, but believes the regulations should be amended through the Capitol Police Board, not through the Rules package of the Capitol. House.
The Capitol Police Board consists of the Capitol Chief of Police, the Architect of the Capitol, and Sergeants at Arms in the House and Senate. Officials at those offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the gun regulations.
