Newly elected GOP congresswoman from Colorado Lauren Boebert was in a standoff with police at the Capitol on Tuesday after her bag set off the newly installed metal detectors lawmakers have to go through to reach the chamber floor.
Boebert, who says she carries her gun with her did not want to turn over her handbag to be searched so she was barred from entering the House floor.
Ryan Nobles, a CNN reporter who witnessed the standoff said Boebert was later seen on the House floor but he could not tell if she allowed officers to search her bag.
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Other Republicans are also furious over the new metal detectors that were installed after Wednesday’s pro-Trump riot.
A defiant Rep. Markwayne Mullin said “it’s my constitutional right” and “they cannot stop me” while he pushed his way through with fellow Republican Steve Womack who shouted “I was physically restrained!”, CNN reports.
The number 2 House Republican Steve Scalise claims the measures put in place to increase safety “impedes the ability of members to come and vote. This is our job.”
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Rep. Boebert took to Twitter later on Tuesday night to defend her actions writing:
“I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, D.C. and within the Capitol complex. Metal detectors outside of the House would not have stopped the violence we saw last week — it’s just another political stunt by Speaker Pelosi.”
Updated to include Boebert’s tweet.
