House Democrats this week are pushing legislation to prohibit lawmakers from carrying firearms anywhere on the Capitol – an old idea getting new attention in the tense days since the deadly Capitol attack earlier this month.
Sponsored by representatives. Jared Huffman
Jared William HuffmanHouse Democrats seek to block offshore drilling on the west coast of the Arctic Increased tensions after firearm incident near the floor of the House Capitol attack scars permeate high-security inauguration and Jackie Speier
Karen (Jackie) Lorraine Jacqueline SpeierOvernight Defense: Biden suspends Trump’s transgender military ban | Democrats and defenders celebrate end of ban | 5,000 guards who stayed in DC until mid-March Increased calls to a 9/11 style panel to probe the attack on the Capitol The global gag rule is just the tip of the iceberg: Why repealing the Helms amendment is important MORE, both California Democrats, the proposal would repeal a decades-old rule that exempted lawmakers from a general arms ban across the Capitol complex.
The legislator’s exclusion has been in effect since 1967, and members of both parties have quietly taken advantage of it in the decades since, with virtually no incident.
But the issue was raised to new heights this year after a handful of Republicans in the House, most of them new to Congress, expressed a desire to bring hidden firearms to the House floor, where current guidelines prohibit them.
These rhetorical threats to defy the rules – combined with an episode last week when Capitol police officers intervened to stop Rep. Andy Harris
Andrew (Andy) Peter HarrisRep. Bush says he is changing Greene’s job for security. Maryland lawmakers ask Biden to honor the Capital Gazette with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Rachel Maddow: The Republican Party has become part of an ‘extremist and violent criminal movement’ MORE (R-Md.) Bringing a gun to the chamber – the urgency among Democratic gun reformers increased to expand the firearm ban to include not only officials and the public, but also lawmakers.
“What I think we learned doesn’t work is the honor system,” said Huffman in a telephone interview on Thursday, the day he presented the bill. “This is how we apply the current weapons ban in the Chamber. And we know that a growing number of Republicans are just making fun of it. “
A newcomer to the Capitol, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), recorded a video on her second day in Washington promising to “carry my firearm in DC and in Congress”. Since then, she has refused to allow the Capitol Police to search her purse as she walked to the floor of the Chamber.
Another first-term lawmaker, Congressman Madison Cawthorn (RN.C.), told local media that he was carrying a gun during the siege of the Capitol, although it is unclear whether he was on the ground at the time.
A third Republican, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia), is facing heavy scrutiny this week after revelations that she endorsed the assassination of prominent Democrats before coming to Congress.
These and similar episodes have heightened distrust to the point that some Democrats say they literally fear that some of their Republican colleagues pose a threat to their physical security.
In response to these concerns, speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiFBI: Woman caught in a riot on Capitol Hill allegedly said she wanted to shoot Pelosi ‘in the goddamn’ brain ‘. Did Trump know what was going to happen on January 6? Marjorie Taylor Greene announces Trump call amid growing reaction MORE (D-Calif.) He placed three magnetometers around the House floor a few days after the attack on the Capitol – an extraordinary step reflecting how far party relations have deteriorated in the fuel months since last year’s elections. If there were doubts about their goal, they were left out by one of their House allies, who said the goal was “to prevent donkeys from carrying weapons into the chamber”.
Pelosi is now pushing for more funding to protect lawmakers – at home in Washington and as they travel between them. But she made it clear that she considers some Republicans part of the threat.
“We will probably need a supplement for more security for members when the enemy is inside the House of Representatives – a threat that concerns members – in addition to what is happening outside,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. .
Asked to explain, Pelosi was concise. “This means that we have members of Congress who want to bring weapons to the ground and have threatened violence against other members of Congress,” she said.
Some Republican lawmakers have already rejected the idea of running the magnetometers during the polls, opting to bypass them. Pelosi responded quickly, threatening thousands of dollars in fines for each violation – a policy the House is expected to adopt next week.
The application of the legislative ban to armed legislators is less certain. Huffman said the decision would be left to the United States Capitol Police Council, although he suggested the simplest strategy would be to have lawmakers selected like everyone else each time they entered the Capitol complex.
“I think we have come to a time when members of Congress need to follow these same rules,” he said.
The 1967 guidelines that allow lawmakers to carry weapons are also a project of the Capitol Police Council, which consists of the weapons sergeants in both chambers, the Capitol Architect and the Capitol Police chief. And even Huffman says the preferred strategy is to get the board to repeal this rule, rather than adopt the change legislatively.
After the January 6 attack, however, the board is in a state of disarray, as three of the four members have been replaced and it is not clear whether they are examining the issue.
“The problem is that the card isn’t really working right now,” said Huffman. “It is important that this bill moves forward, if not something else, to keep this issue up front and in the center and to serve as support in case they refuse to take action.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police did not respond to several requests for comment this week.
Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Rules Committee, faced some pressure from Democrats to attach the arms ban to the rules package for the new Congress, which was approved in the first week of January. In a conversation with The Hill earlier this month, McGovern said Democratic leaders opted against it, mainly for two reasons. First, he said the Police Council is reviewing its firearms guidelines, including exemption from the legislature. And second, the House rules cover only half of the Capitol complex, making application logistically impossible without Senate membership.
“The regulation is bicameral,” he said, emphasizing that it supports Huffman’s goals.
With Democrats now in control of the Senate, Huffman said he hopes to find support for his proposal in the upper house, although it is unclear whether the Senate majority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerP Capitol’s permanent fencing proposal sparks bipartisan resistance Immigration reform can’t wait Psaki expects DHS nominee Mayorkas to head the task force to bring separate families together MORE (DN.Y.) has the problem on your radar.
Schumer’s office did not respond to several requests for comment.
Regardless of how the debate unfolds, supporters of the gun ban say their case was supported by an unlikely group: the same agitated Republicans – including Boebert, Cawthorn and Greene – whose controversies that made headlines quickly became a headache. for Republican Party leaders.
“These people, through their bad behavior, are presenting a much better case than anything I could say,” said Huffman.