House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims lawmakers might be carrying firearms to this week’s inaugural ceremony as more than 20,000 troops secure the nation’s capital on lockdown.
According to ABC News congressional reporter Ben Siegel, on a call with Secret Service Wednesday Pelosi said she was “very, very concerned” about lawmakers bringing their weapons.
Pelosi speaks as if colleagues trained to protect themselves and others by carrying firearms pose a significant threat after security failed at the Capitol earlier this month. Instead, the events vindicated Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert’s vows to carry legally on the hill.
“I walk to my office every morning by myself, so as a 5-foot-tall, 100-pound woman, I choose to protect myself legally, because I am my best security,” the freshman congresswoman said in an ad released days after the new Congress was sworn in.
The ad sparked outrage among Democrats who don’t understand legal gun use as a measure to protect oneself and others from violence. In December, Democrats launched a bid to ban firearms carried by members, who are exempt from D.C. statutes, after Boebert first raised the idea with Capitol Police at new member orientation. The ban proposal drew support from about two dozen Democrats, according to the Hill.
A memo from the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms reminded lawmakers firearms are still restricted to members’ offices.
While Boebert, who also made headlines this month for refusing to comply with Capitol metal detector screenings, has made a point to challenge congressional guidelines for firearms, the Colorado congresswoman stands among only a handful of colleagues vocally against Pelosi’s massive increase in security measures around the complex. None others have produced ads declaring their intent to bring firearms to the Capitol.
Pelosi has demanded fines for members who refuse to abide by the new House security protocols. The first offense will trigger a fine of $5,000, with the second $10,000 deducted from the member’s salary.
The hysteria marks just one episode of Democrats exploiting the chaos at the Capitol this month to spike fears that Republicans are preparing to launch a second Civil War in light of Joe Biden’s inauguration. Such security measures, including the addition of more than 20,000 troops to lock down the capital city, were absent in the aftermath of far-left extremists burning businesses to the ground.
Leftist riots in 2020 included setting fires in the U.S. Capitol. Instead of increasing security, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser named a plaza after them and celebrated their anarchy.
After leftist political violence, Pelosi condemned the presence of federal troops coming into Washington to secure federal monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial, which had been defaced.