This won’t end well for Lauren Boebert
At the start of every new Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives puts together a rules package that will govern the behaviors and actions of the chamber’s membership. This year, a proposal to disallow members of Congress from carrying firearms into the U.S. Capitol ultimately was not included in the package. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) called the failure of this weapons provision her “first congressional victory.” If a deranged gun-obsessed person like Boebert cheers this on, you know it’s necessary to revisit the situation.
A few days ago, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) introduced standalone legislation entitled the “No Congressional Gun Loophole Act.” This measure would hold members of Congress to the same rules as the general public when it comes to firearms inside the Capitol and on its grounds. After the deadly insurrection last month, and knowing that we have some violence-inciting, right-wing legislators who want to pack heat but dodge the metal detectors, passage of this act has become an urgent necessity. As always, you can imagine that Republicans, beholden as ever to the NRA and Second Amendment crowd, sneer at what should be a non-controversial rule that looks out for their safety.
Of Course, Boebert has something to say about this, and her trope is the same tired echoism we usually hear from the right. Boebert, who has more in common with the January 6th Capitol terrorists than she does with most of her congressional colleagues, thinks lawmakers need guns for protection while at work. With far-right QAnon adherents now the face of the GOP in Congress, sane legislators may need a greater measure of protection from their gun-crazed Republican co-workers, something this act would address. The proposal may receive a vote not tied to other legislation, and its passage would be a meaningful step forward for Congressional progressives.
