GOP Rep. Suggests Lawmakers Should Be Able to Carry Guns After Shooting
In the wake of the attack on Republican congressmen at a House baseball practice Wednesday morning, Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk suggested to reporters that lawmakers should be able to carry guns at Capitol Hill.
James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old from Illinois, opened fire on Republican congressmen as they practiced for the annual House baseball game on Wednesday, wounding four people, including Rep. Steve Scalise.
The rifle-toting assailant’s spree was brought to end after he was shot in a gunfight with two Capitol Police officers. Hodgkinson later died at the hospital.
Loudermilk, who witnessed the shooting, told reporters later that if that attack “had happened in Georgia, [Hodgkinson] wouldn’t have gotten too far,” according to CNN’s Ashley Killough.
The congressman said he had a staffer with him who “back in Georgia carries a 9 mm in his car,” adding “he had a clear shot at him, but here we’re not allowed to carry any weapons.”
Loudermilk also said that he carries a gun in Georgia, and when asked directly whether he thought House members should be able to carry, he replied “we need to look at security details.”
“This is exactly why there’s a lot of fear of even doing town halls at this point,” Loudermilk continued. “Some of the things this guy is posting on Facebook — we get the same things and even worse.”
Loudermilk is not the only congressman to float the idea of allowing lawmakers to tote guns in the wake of Wednesday morning’s shooting.
Rep. Chris Collins of New York said in a radio interview that he plans to carry his 9 mm gun to future public events:
LISTEN: @RepChrisCollins says he’ll carry a handgun at public events moving forward. #VAshooting @WKBW @ABC pic.twitter.com/3Im9bUtiiM
— Ali Touhey (@Ali2e) June 14, 2017
Citing the “vulnerability” of House members, Collins said “I can assure you from this day forward — I have a carry permit — I will be carrying when I’m out and about, which I have to tell you, I have not been even though I have a carry permit at home.”
Collins said that on rare occasion he has his gun in his car’s glove box, but “it’s going to be in my pocket from this day forward.”
Under Washington DC’s strict gun laws, firearms are not permitted to be brought into the Capitol building by the public, though, if a representative is willing to jump through enough hurdles, they can bring an unloaded gun into their office.
[image via screengrab]
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