Lawmakers clash over allowing guns in Natural Resources committee

Lawmakers on the House Natural Resources Committee had a heated debate Wednesday about whether to allow guns into the committee room. 

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) proposed an amendment to bar guns in the room, saying, “We have too many members who have incited and advocated armed political violence.”

“Some have reveled in the removal of the magnetometers at the House chamber that were there to prevent something truly awful from happening,” he said. 

“They have openly fetishized guns and violence to the point where one of my colleagues across the aisle was removed from their committee assignments for portraying himself killing another member who sits on this very same committee,” he added, referring to Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) respectively. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) countered by accusing Huffman of “wasting time on political stunts and argued that members need guns to protect themselves. She also showed an image of Huffman wearing a tinfoil hat. 

The amendment failed in a party-line vote after Republicans rallied around Boebert and Democrats spoke in support of Huffman.

Natural Resources Chairman Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) called the amendment “unnecessary” and noted that  “no other committee has such a provision in the rules” 

Members of the panel also clashed over a firearms prohibition in the room under the last Congress. 

“The issue is important. It’s about public safety,” said ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who chaired the Natural Resources Committee from 2019 through 2021.

“Congress should conduct its business without wondering whether we are moments away from any level of violence,” he said.