A Colorado congresswoman-elect, who is known for strapping a Glock pistol to her hip, is now planning to carry her weapon to the Capitol grounds once she takes offices in January. Republican Lauren Boebert, 33, who got elected this month from a conservative western Colorado district and is known to be a pro-gun activist, has already asked Capitol police about her plans.
However, she won't be the first or only person to do so. Lawmakers with some limitations, under decades-old congressional regulations, are allowed to carry weapons to the Capitol grounds, which has now become an age-old practice.
What's the Big Deal?
Boebert is already known in Colorado as a gun-obsessed woman. She also owns a gun-themed restaurant, Shooters Grill, in the small community of Rifle, Colorado, and has reportedly made requests to the capitol police about allowing her to carry her Glock pistol, when she was recently at Washington D.C. for orientation programs with her other newly elected House members, according to two congressional officials, report the coloradosun.com.
Both the officials, one a Democrat and other a Republican, spoke on conditions of anonymity. Also, Boebert's spokesperson acknowledged that she made a firearms request but didn't make herself available for an interview. "This was a private discussion and inquiry about what the rules are, and as a result the Congresswoman-Elect won't be going on the record," Laura Carno, a Boebert aide, said in an email last week.
Boebert was elected earlier this month in an upset victory over five-term Rep. Scott Tipton for the GOP nomination in June. Boebert has been an active Trump supporter and one of her accusations against Tipton was that he wasn't an ardent backer of the President.
Boebert Long List of Supporters
Among the many supporters of Boebert and her intentions of carry her Glock pistol, Trump tops the list. Trump has time and again endorsed Boebert as a "fighter" who will "never bow down to the establishment in Congress."
The Capitol Police have also acknowledged that Boebert, a long-time gun activist, has made inquiries about carrying firearms but there is "no standing requirement" for legislators to notify the police if to want to do so. The only thing the regulation requires is that Members safely store their weapons.
According to a 1967 regulation, neither the federal nor the District of Colombia law prohibits any Member of Congress from maintaining firearms within the confines of this office" or "from transporting within Capitol grounds firearms unloaded and securely wrapped." Although Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) made efforts to ban the practice in 2018, it did not succeed following opposition from colleagues.
Boebert, however, had plenty of support from her own party including Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have applauded her decision.
