Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) got into a heated debate with a House Democrat on Thursday over her ostentatious gun display while discussing a proposed amendment to a House Natural Resources committee rule preventing its members from carrying firearms in committee rooms.
“If somebody wants to have a shrine to their gun fetish as a Zoom backdrop in their private life they can do that,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) said Thursday. “But this is our hearing room and at some point we will get past the COVID epidemic and we’ll all start showing up in person and our safety and our ability to conduct business civilly without feeling threatened is a relevant consideration, unfortunately.”
Republicans are trying to dismantle committee rules to prohibit firearms and dangerous weapons in the hearing room. The fact that we have a member of the committee fetishizing weapons with her zoom background makes a clear case for why these rules are necessary. @NRDems pic.twitter.com/cWn26AFpSo
— Rep. Jared Huffman (@RepHuffman) February 18, 2021
The comments directed at the Colorado congresswoman’s gun spectacle came as the committee met virtually to discuss the issue of guns in the Capitol complex.
Boebert appeared at the virtual meeting in front of a craftily displayed collection of weapons and took aim at the rule as many Republicans in Congress angle to undermine enhanced safety measures in the wake of the Capitol riot last month.
“Why does anyone think that they can cherry pick the Second Amendment and say this is the one enumerated right that we can take away from people?” Boebert said.
The Colorado freshman has been a particularly outspoken opponent to intensified security measures at the Capitol complex, which have included newly-installed metal detectors, in addition to fencing around the Capitol that law enforcement officials have said will likely be permanent in the wake of the Capitol riot which left five people, including a Capitol police officer, dead.
“If they want razor wire fences, security — armed security — then we should be able to protect ourselves against these threats and I want my own security detail,” Boebert said, taking swipes at the House speaker and Democrats who have defended the new security measures.
Last month, reports pointed at how the Colorado lawmaker had ignored police officers who asked her to stop so that she could be cleared by a hand-held wand before entering the House floor.
As the gun-brandishing conservative on Thursday inquired about Capitol provisions for “a safe storage area” to her to lock up her firearm, at least one lawmaker on Twitter pointed out Boebert’s own questionable storage of firearms that she dubbed “ready for use” and that created the backdrop for her lengthy monologue touting her Second Amendment rights.
I always thought my dirty dishes piled up and accumulating bacteria were the most dangerous thing in a Zoom background… ??? #SafeStorage pic.twitter.com/uveXvGfafu
— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) February 18, 2021
“Whatever your fetishes or feelings are about guns, you’re not going to bring them into our committee room,” Huffman added on Thursday. “You don’t need them there for your own safety, many of us feel like it threatens our safety and that’s just not going to be allowed.”
Days after the Capitol attack, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) suggested that some of her Republican colleagues had participated in a “reconnaissance” allowing rioters into the building in groups a day before the Capitol siege.
Boebert was among the Republicans who was accused by some House Democrats of giving tours days before the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol last month — allegations that she has denied.
