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- GOP Representative Lauren Boebert has opposed a House committee rule banning the carrying of firearms in her courtroom.
- The lawmaker appeared in a virtual meeting in front of several guns stacked on a shelf.
- The House natural resources committee finally upheld the rule on Thursday.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
In a virtual meeting Thursday amid multiple guns, Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado slammed the rule proposed by a House committee banning the carrying of guns in her courtroom on Capitol Hill.
“This rule is absurd and discriminatory,” Boebert said in front of a shelf full of guns during a conference call with the House Natural Resources Committee. “It is a flagrant violation of our constitutional rights.”
The first-year Republican has asked committee chairman, Democratic Representative Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, to issue him with a “personal security detail” if the committee goes ahead with the measure.
“I would like to ask at this point for personal security details that the president pays for himself, every time I walk into the committee room,” Boebert said. “If this passes, the president will try to take responsibility for my personal safety while taking away my Second Amendment rights.”
Under a 1967 rulebook, members of Congress are permitted to keep weapons in their offices and transport them to the Capitol complex. However, there are a few exceptions, especially on the House and Senate floors. In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers, including Boebert, have touted the settlement and opposed what they perceive to be restrictions.
Members of the House Natural Resources Committee met on Thursday to organize its panel for the 117th Congress, which included a debate on a rule against carrying firearms in its courtroom. The rule was ultimately approved by a voice vote.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’re not doing anything new here,” a spokesperson for the Democratic Committee told Insider. “We reaffirm the existing policy.”
California Democratic Representative Jared Huffman defended the rule Thursday and targeted Boebert’s point of view.
“Here’s the reality, if someone wants to have a sanctuary for their gun fetish as a Zoom backdrop in their privacy, they can do it,” he said at the meeting. “But this is our courtroom. And at some point we will overcome the COVID outbreak and we will all start to present ourselves in person. And our safety and our ability to conduct business civilly without feeling threatened is a relevant consideration, unfortunately. “
Boebert then dismissed criticism of the guns in his video background after screenshots of it were posted online.
“Who said it was storage? These are ready to use”, Boebert said in response to a tweet that poked fun at the placement of guns as “dangerous gun storage”.
-Representative. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) February 18, 2021
Jason Crow, Colorado Representative, an Army Veteran, slammed Boebert’s display as a “political coup”.
“I never stacked guns on a wartime shelf, let alone on a zoom in my living room,” Crow said.
Boebert, a gun rights advocate, gained national attention last month when she suggested she would wear a Glock with her in Washington, DC and in Congress. Open porting is illegal in the nation’s capital, and gun owners must register their firearms with DC Police and obtain a permit if they choose to carry them concealed. The then Metropolitan Police Department said it would contact Boebert.
Earlier this month, Acting Police Chief Robert Contee said Boebert had received a concealed carry permit.
During Thursday’s meeting, Boebert also raised concerns about new metal detectors installed outside the House chamber in light of the Capitol headquarters on January 6. She previously reportedly refused to follow security protocol.
Boebert represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District and ran his 2020 campaign on a pro-gun platform. She owns a restaurant in the state called “Shooters Grille” where waiters are encouraged to openly carry guns.
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