Who Is Lauren Boebert? Meet The New Congressperson Walking Around With A Glock

On Sunday, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert began her first term as a newly elected Congresswoman by loudly and proudly sharing her love of guns and the Second Amendment in a now-viral ad on Twitter. In the ad, the Republican politician is seen loading a Glock and securing it in a gun holster around her waist before hitting the streets of Washington, D.C. to tell viewers why she’s in favor of carrying the weapon with her at all times.

“Even though I now work in one of the most liberal cities in America, I refuse to give up my rights, especially my Second Amendment rights,” Boebert says to the camera as she walks toward the U.S. Capitol. She goes on to declare: “I will carry my firearm in D.C. and in Congress. This caused outrage from Democrats and the media. Why? It’s our job in Congress to defend your rights, including your Second Amendment, and that’s exactly what I’m here to do.”

Boebert is then seen walking through more residential and back streets as she gives the “real reasons why [she] defends [her]self in the nation’s capital.” According to her, its thanks to the state’s crime and homicide rates, both listed without statistics in the ad, and the fact that she is “a 5-foot tall, 100-pound woman [who] chooses to protect myself legally.”

Boebert also goes on to claim that people who live in D.C. “don’t understand how we live in real America.” She ends the ad by recalling the 2019 presidential rally of former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, where she told him “hell no” to his proposed buyback program for AR-15s and AK-47s, and doubles down on her right to carry in D.C.

So, where exactly did this congressperson come from? Boebert’s entry into Congress comes after a busy 2020 securing her place in politics. Prior to her appearance at O’Rourke’s rally, she was solely known as the owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo., where the staff is armed at all times. Following her “hell no” statement, Boebert next made headlines in June 2020 when she defeated former Rep. Scott Tipton in the Republican primary for Colorado’s 3rd district; her win was described as an upset due to Tipton’s five previous terms in office and she received the congratulatory praise of President Donald Trump. On the campaign trail, Boebert was vocal about her support for Trump and for open-carry laws.

But then she was elected, giving her free rein to spew her second amendment ideas all over Twitter. In November, Boebert defeated former Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush for a seat in the House, taking 51.4% of the votes while Mitsch Bush got 45.2%. Her win made her the first woman to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

And in spite of the swift backlash to her ad, Boebert has stood by it, tweeting on Sunday, “Let me tell you why I WILL carry my Glock to Congress. Government does NOT get to tell me or my constituents how we are allowed to keep our families safe. I promise to always stand strong for our 2nd Amendment rights.” She even announced, as a follow-up, the launch of the Second Amendment Caucus with Rep. Thomas Massie, which she says they “will be Co-Chairing, to fight for your Constitutional rights. #2A.”

As eager as Boebert is to carry her weapon throughout D.C., which would be legal thanks to a 1967 regulation allowing members of Congress to be in possession of a firearm at the U.S. Capitol, she needs to first be registered in D.C. — and just not her native Colorado — to avoid being charged, according to The Washington Post.

“There are no exceptions in the District of Columbia,” D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III said Monday. “We plan to reach out to the congresswoman’s office to make sure that she is aware of what the laws of the District of Columbia are, what the restrictions are.”