Fox News: Colorado Incoming Congresswoman-elect Appears to Score Win on Capitol Gun Rights
Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., wrote a letter to House leadership Friday, urging them to keep a 1967 rule that exempts lawmakers from a ban on firearms inside the Capitol building.
The letter, which was signed by 82 other current and incoming GOP Congress members – including Dan Crenshaw, Mo Brooks, Louie Gohmert and Matt Gaetz – came three days after 21 Democratic lawmakers asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to change the 53-year-old rule to keep Boebert from carrying her gun into work.
On Saturday, it appeared Boebert scored a victory, as new rules unveiled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not appear to include a Democrat-proposed ban on firearms in the Capitol.
“I refuse to give up my Second Amendment rights,” Boebert said in a statement last week. “I’m a 5-foot tall, 100-pound mom with four children and will be walking to work and serving in one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. I choose to defend my family and my life with all of the force the Constitution provides. I will not let a bunch of gun-grabbing House Democrats take away my Constitutional right to protect myself.”
The letter sent by Democrats said allowing lawmakers to carry guns in the Capitol creates “needless risk for Members of Congress, their staff, members of the Capitol Police, and visitors to the Capitol grounds.”
The Democratic letter was led by Reps. Jared Huffman, Robin Kelly and Jackie Speier. (Speier, of California, survived five gunshot wounds suffered during the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1978.)
Fellow Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat, accused Boebert of conducting a “political stunt” and “disrespecting” Capitol police.
“The US [Capitol police] are professionals & I have rarely felt safer,” he tweeted. “I should know. I’ve carried a gun for work. If Boebert wants to talk safety, I have legislation to discuss.”
Boebert, who is an outspoken advocate for the Second Amendment, also said Thursday she plans to join the House Freedom Caucus once she’s sworn into office. The conservative caucus is currently led by GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and was previously led by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows when he was a congressman from North Carolina.
