Democrats Want to Repeal Rule That Allows Representatives to Have Guns in the Capitol

By Luis Valdes via TTAG

According to the Washington Post Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and fellow Democrats are looking at repealing a fifty-year-old rule that allows Congresscritters to keep guns in their offices and carry them on the Capitol grounds. Of course Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is backing the move as part of her bid to be elected Speaker again.

In a statement, Rep. Huffman told the WaPo…

“I don’t think we can just keep looking the other way or sweep this issue under the rug,” Huffman said in an interview, citing potential threats to public safety and national security from a lost or stolen weapon — or an overheated lawmaker. “Our political climate is too volatile and there are too many warning signs that we need to address things like this.”

The problem according to Huffman is apparently the known unknowns . . .

Huffman said he has heard rumors about colleagues keeping weapons and carrying them on campus but did not have firsthand knowledge about any particular instance. The House Sergeant at Arms, he said, informed him in a briefing that Capitol authorities do not keep records or track which civilians might be in possession of firearms on the grounds.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), chairman of the House Second Amendment Caucus said . . .

“It’s proposing to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” he said. “(Pelosi)’s worried that members aren’t responsible enough to handle a firearm?”

It’s going to be very interesting, especially on the Democrat side of the aisle, to see how they’ll vote. There are undoubtedly a number of Democrat lawmakers who preach ‘do as I say, not as I do’ and keep firearms for their own personal protection. Will they vote against their own self interests if that means toeing the anti-gun party line? And if they do, will they then just ignore the new rule anyway?