Eric Garcia
Thu, 2 February 2023
House Democrats criticised freshman Republicans, including embattled Representative George Santos, for wearing assault rifle pins on Capitol Hill.
Democratic Representative Jimmy Gomez of California tweeted out photos of Representatives Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Mr Santos of New York wearing lapel pins in the shape of an assault weapon.
“Where are these assault weapon pins coming from? Who is passing these out?” he tweeted.
Ms Luna wore one during a hearing for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday while the embattled Mr Santos wore one during a speech on the House floor.
“Anna Paulina Luna wore an assault weapon pin at today’s Oversight hearing — less than 48 hours after her state experienced a mass shooting,” Mr Gomez tweeted. “You can’t make this sh*t up. This isn’t the flex you think it is.”
Earlier in the week, 11 people were hurt in a mass shooting in Lakeland, Florida.
In images shared by Los Angeles Times photojournalist Kent Nishimura, the pin can be seen clearly on Mr Santos.
This was not the only confrontation that Democrats and Republicans had about firearms on the Hill this week. On Wednesday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman whether he thought it was acceptable for members to bring firearms to the committee.
“The chair believes that members of the Natural Resources Committee should follow the House rules and the guidance of Capitol police,” he said.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying that members have different interpretations of the rules. The question came after the GOP struck down a rule that would prevent members from bringing a firearm into the committee.
“I need to know for a sense of my own personal safety what your interpretation of the House rules are as it pertains to this issue,” she said.
Mr Westerman said that she should take it up with the House Administration Committee.
“So, we are seeing that the chair, who is responsible for the enforcement of these rules, does have a specific interpretation of whether firearms should be or not be permitted,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said, following up by asking if he had consulted with the Administration Committee.
Mr Westerman said “the committee has not been in consultation with the House Administration because it’s an amendment, that’s not necessary,” before noting it was the only committee that had an amendment about bringing in a firearm and that was put in when Democrats controlled the House.
“So just, in summary, the decision as to whether the chair believes that firearms should be permitted in this committee is determined by House admin, but the committee has not been in touch with House admin whether this should or should not be allowed,” she said. “And so therefore, we’re going to leave this ambiguous.”
In response, Mr Westerman said it is up to every member of the House to follow the House rule
Democrats Go Ballistic Over Assault Rifle Lapel Pins Worn By GOP Lawmakers
“Anyone can wear whatever they want, but you have to have some common decency," said a stunned Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.).
By Mary Papenfuss
Feb 3, 2023
Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna sports an assault rifle lapel pin even though there
were six mass shootings in her state in January.
SCREEN SHOT/TWITTER/REP. JIMMY GOMEZ
At least three Republican lawmakers in the House have been sporting tiny assault rifle pins on their lapels amid an alarming series of mass shootings — and critics are exploding.
“To promote that on the floor of the House is despicable and an insult to all of the victims of assault weapons,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) told a Nexstar Media reporter.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said that “anybody can wear whatever they want, but you have to have some common decency.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who has worn the lapel pin for years, said in a tweet that he distributed them to his colleagues to “remind people of the Second Amendment of the Constitution and how important it is in preserving our liberties.” He appeared proud that he was “triggering” Democrats.
Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and George Santos (R-N.Y.) have both been photographed wearing the pins. Luna did so on Monday less than 48 hours after a mass shooting in her state that injured 11 people, two of them critically. There were six mass shootings in Florida in January.
“You can’t make this sh*t up,” Gomez tweeted.
He also pointed out the utter heartlessness of wearing the pins during Gun Violence Survivors Week — and noted that Clyde is the owner of a major gun retailer in Georgia that profits from gun use.
In response to one of Gomez’s comments, Luna bizarrely tweeted a photo of a signed, handwritten note apparently taped to a House office door saying: “Jimmy, stop trying to date me!” — with the rifle pin attached.
As of early February, the Gun Violence Archive counted 54 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023. Six of them involved four or more fatalities.
Though handguns are most often used in mass shootings, AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles or similar guns — just like the ones the lapel pins depict — are increasingly a mass shooter’s weapon of choice, USA Today reported.
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