- Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was concerned about her safety after reports said members of Congress had brought weapons to the Capitol.
- The New York progressive told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday that “a very considerable number” of legislators “still don’t feel safe”.
- Security concerns have been a priority for many lawmakers after the violation of the Capitol.
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Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was concerned for her safety after the Capitol rebellion and in light of reports that some members of Congress seemed inclined to bring firearms to work.
The New York progressive told CNN’s Chris Cuomo late on Thursday that “a very considerable number” of legislators “still do not feel safe around other members of Congress”.
Ocasio-Cortez raised the issue of security concerns after Cuomo questioned why she had skipped President Joe Biden’s inauguration earlier this week. She instead spent the night supporting a local union strike in New York.
“Do you really think that your colleagues in Congress can make you dirty?” Cuomo asked.
“One of them just tried to bring a gun to the House floor,” replied Ocasio-Cortez, a reference to Republican deputy Andy Harris of Maryland, who tried to carry a hidden firearm to the House floor on Thursday night , HuffPost reported. Harris’s office did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment. The Washington Post reported that the Capitol Police said it would investigate the matter.
“The moment you put a gun on the floor of the Chamber, violating the rules, you put everyone around you in danger,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “It is irresponsible. It is unwise.”
She added: “It is absolutely outrageous that we still have to have this conversation.”
Members of Congress are prohibited from carrying firearms to the floors of the House and Senate, but they can have guns in their offices and carry them on Capitol grounds. Open carrying is illegal in Washington, DC, and gun owners must register their firearms with the DC police and obtain a license if they choose to carry concealed weapons.
Security concerns are on the mind of many lawmakers after the siege of the Capitol earlier this month, which forced Congress to close its doors and evacuate the building. The Chamber reinforced its security protocols and installed a metal detector in front of the floor of the Chamber, but some Republicans scoffed at the measures or completely disregarded them.
In addition to the Harris report on Thursday, other lawmakers have signaled that they are willing to carry weapons on Capitol Hill. Freshman deputy Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a staunch gun rights advocate, had previously indicated that she wanted to take her Glock pistol to work with her.
Another freshman member of Congress, Republican deputy Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, said he was armed with him during the siege of the Capitol.
“Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves,” he told the local North Carolina newspaper, Smoky Mountain News.
Georgia Republican MP Marjorie Taylor Greene ran an ad when she was a candidate showing her holding an assault rifle alongside photos of Ocasio-Cortez and his “squad” companions, Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Facebook withdrew the ad.
“Republican Party lawmakers campaigned with images of them cocking guns alongside pictures of me,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday. “Now they are trying to violate DC law and the House rules for putting weapons on the floor of the House two weeks after a white supremacist uprising that killed 5 people. Why?”