On Sunday congressional Democrats showed they lacked the stomach to fight for a ban on guns in the U.S. Capitol – something new Rep. Lauren Boebert has made an issue of.
Now, the police chief in Washington, D.C., has decided he does.
Police Chief Robert Contee III, who oversees one of America’s most crime-ridden precincts, told reporters on Monday that Boebert, a Colorado Republican, will be handled like every other gun-toting punk on his streets.
“There are no exceptions in the District of Columbia,” Contee said of Boebert. He was responding to a social media video the freshman lawmaker had posted on Sunday about carrying her gun in Contee’s jurisdiction.
“We plan to reach out to the congresswoman’s office to make sure she is aware of what the laws of the District of Columbia are.”
“That congresswoman,” he added, “will be subjected to the same penalties as anyone else that’s caught on the D.C. streets carrying a firearm.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser also commented, saying, “It angers me actually, that any elected official would incite violence, put our city at risk, put these men and women in law enforcement at risk, our residents at risk, and our beautiful city at risk.”
Bowser apparently said that with a straight face, despite leading a city where the violent crime rate runs 158 percent above the national average.
Contee and Bowser were upset by Boebert’s Twitter post, in which she wrote: “Government does NOT get to tell me or my constituents how we are allowed to keep our families safe. I promise to always stand strong for our 2nd Amendment rights.”
In the accompanying video, she added, “Even though I now work in one of the most liberal cities in America, I refuse to give up my rights – especially my Second Amendment rights.”
She explained that she would carry her gun to protect her family and because she now works in one of the 10 most dangerous cities in America.
“I don’t go to work in a motorcade or armored car. I don’t get police escorts everywhere I go. I walk to my office every morning by myself,” she said.
“I choose to protect myself legally because I am my best security.”
She then noted that people in D.C. don’t understand how folks in “real America” live – where the Second Amendment is a routine part of people’s lives, gun ownership is “cherished” and firearms make little towns safer.
Boebert, who owns a gun-themed restaurant in a town called, appropriately enough, Rifle, said a “violent incident” at her place convinced her to take advantage of Colorado’s open-carry laws, something her waitresses are allowed, provided they receive mandatory gun training.
“Educated, law-abiding gun owners are the safest people in America to be around,” Boebert said.
“So if you see me in D.C., say hi. You’re safe with me.”
Might be good advice.
Contee’s own department and the Washington media recently reported that in 2020 homicides in the District were up 19 percent over 2019, and the murder rate was the highest since 2004. Armed assaults and armed robberies were also up, while carjackings spiked by an eye-popping 141 percent.
Under House rules, lawmakers have been allowed to carry guns in the Capitol since 1967. After Boebert inquired about whether she could do so, 21 Democrats petitioned Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to overturn the rule and implement a ban on guns.
Yet 83 representatives, including Boebert, argued for maintaining it. That group also included GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Dan Crenshaw and Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
The House’s proposed rules for the 2021-22 session kept the provision on carrying guns as is.
Contee is wrong.
He should put his mind to work on his jurisdiction- not DC.