Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert continued to make news at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday — this time for refusing to let Capitol Police look through her purse after she set off metal detectors placed at entrances to the House floor.
The metal detectors were set up after multiple Democrats reportedly expressed concerns about freshmen members insistent on carrying weapons.
Boebert, a strong gun rights advocate and co-chair of the Second Amendment caucus who has pledged to carry a gun in Congress, tweeted “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.”
She added that she is allowed to carry her weapons in Washington, D.C., and the Capitol Complex.
A memo from acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett explaining the new security measure also reminded members that they are only allowed to have guns in their personal offices.
Several Republican members expressed their frustration with the new security arrangement. Rep. Steve Stivers from Ohio told Capitol Police that he believed the metal detectors are unconstitutional. Others tried to go around them.
Boebert has been facing calls of resignation or expulsion over her tweets on Jan. 6 discussing her whereabouts and the movements of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol building.
“I'm here to work for the American people, so resignation is not on my mind,” Boebert said.
When asked if she regretted her tweets, Boebert was silent and headed to House chambers and her run-in with the Capitol Police over the metal detectors — as the New York Times noted, she was “eventually granted access” to the floor.
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