Ocasio-Cortez says lawmakers fear colleagues sneaking firearms on House floor

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that she and other colleagues “still don’t feel safe” after Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) was found with a handgun at the metal detectors just outside the House floor. 

“We still don’t yet feel safe around other members of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “One just tried to bring a gun on the floor of the House today.” 

The concealed weapon was found in Harris’s suit coat at the metal detectors as Harris was trying to walk onto the House floor to vote. He reportedly asked Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) to hold the gun so he could vote, but Katko declined because he didn’t have a license.

Ocasio-Cortez said any “responsible gun owner” would know that you shouldn’t hand a gun to another person “without clearing it.”

“Because his and his family’s lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial, for security reasons, the Congressman never confirms whether he nor anyone else he’s with are carrying a firearm for self-defense.” Harris’s office said.

“The congressman always complies with the House metal detectors and wanding. The Congressman has never carried a firearm on the House floor,” the office stated in a statement.

House rules prohibit any sort of firearm from being on the floor of the House. Ocasio-Cortez believes Harris was trying to “sneak” the gun on the floor.

Cuomo asked Ocasio-Cortez if she believes that the congressman was trying to bring a gun on the floor for the protection of everyone after the Capitol riot or if she felt she was in danger. 

“I don’t really care what they say their intentions are. I care what the impact of their actions are and the impact is to put 435 members of Congress in danger,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The moment you bring a gun onto the House floor in violation of rules you put everyone around you in danger. It is irresponsible. It is reckless, but beyond that, it is in violation of rules.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has also talked about carrying a gun around Washington, D.C., and in Congress as a form of protection, saying it is her right to have her gun with her.