Rep. Boebert Granted Concealed Carry Permit In Washington

First-year congresswoman planned to carry a firearm on Capitol grounds

Rep. Lauren Boebert addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Colona, Colo. on Oct. 10, 2020. Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), the newly elected Republican who confirmed she planned to carry firearms on Capitol grounds, has been granted a concealed carry permit in the District of Columbia, acting Police Chief Robert Contee said in a press conference Thursday.

“A concealed carry permit was issued in that case,” Contee said when asked if the permit was granted for the first-year congresswoman.

“As we do with all our permits, if citizens are allowed to carry, then we grant them a permit,” Contee said. “In this case, she was allowed to carry and she was granted a permit.”

Boebert made headlines before being sworn into Congress because she applied for a concealed carry permit in Washington and planned to carry her firearm in Washington and Congress.

In an advertisement that quickly went viral last month, the congresswoman appeared to be touting a gun as she walked around Capitol grounds and vowed that she will remain armed while serving at the U.S. Capitol.

Members of Congress are allowed to keep guns inside their offices and can transport them on Capitol grounds provided they are “unloaded and securely wrapped.”

“Even though I work in one of the most liberal cities in America, I refused to give up my rights, especially my Second Amendment rights,” Boebert said in the video. “I will carry my firearm in D.C. and in Congress.”

“I walk to my office each morning by myself,” Boebert says in the ad. “So as a 5-foot tall, 100-pound woman I choose to protect myself legally, because I am my best security.”

Contee noted on Thursday that while the majority of the video was filmed on Capitol grounds and suggested that she was armed, viewers were unable to see clearly if Boebert was carrying a firearm.

He added that after the video was released, he learned that “there was a permit application that had been in the works with the Metropolitan Police Department.”

The police chief added that he had reached out to Boebert’s office and that he did not know if any other members of Congress had concealed weapons permits but was “certain there are probably others.”

In a statement to The Hill, Boebert Communications Director Benjamin Stout said that she has received her concealed carry permit, adding, “as a Co-Chair of the Second Amendment Caucus, she has proudly helped some of her colleagues receive this permit as well.”

The protests at the Capitol building in Washington on Jan. 6 prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to install magnetometers specifically targeting members who want to bring guns on the House floor.

In December, more than 20 members of Congress wrote a letter (pdf) to Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) calling on them to amend the House Rules package for the 117th Congress, banning members from carrying firearms on Capitol grounds.

“The current regulations create needless risk for Members of Congress, their staff, members of the Capitol Police, and visitors to the Capitol grounds,” the letter dated Dec. 15 said. “A provision in the Rules package directing the Capitol Police Board to ensure that Member of Congress may not possess firearms on Capitol grounds would ensure clarity surrounding firearms policy and protect all individuals in and around the Capitol.”