WASHINGTON – Staff Sgt. Aquilino Gonell recently retired from the US Capitol Police after being injured in the January 6 attack. But he remains concerned that a seemingly small security breach at the Capitol could lead to big trouble.
Members of Congress and often the people they enter the Capitol with are not screened for security when they enter the Capitol complex.
«Oh, it’s disturbing,» Gonell said. «The protocol is that they go through security.»
House Administration Committee staff members confirmed that members and their guests They are not required to be tested. Capitol Police declined to comment.
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House rules, established by the Capitol Police Board, prohibit the carrying of firearms anywhere on the premises except in members’ personal offices. But if they are never tested, there is no way to enforce the rules, and many members of Congress believe that some of their colleagues are ignoring them.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., has sounded the alarm about allowing members to bypass security and, in a letter shared exclusively with NBC Newshe is asking President Joe Biden to name a new architect of the Capitol to change it.
“It makes all of us less safe,” Huffman said, noting that the Capitol architect sits on the three-member Capitol Police Board, which could change or better enforce the rules.
The position is vacant after Biden fired Capitol Hill architect Brett Blanton this month after a inspector general report discovered that he had abused his authority. Blanton used his government-provided vehicle for personal reasons and falsely introduced himself as a member of law enforcement, the inspector general discovered.
Huffman and 13 other House Democrats signed the letter to Biden, saying: «It is imperative that the next architect of the Capitol take into account threats from both outside and inside the Capitol complex and enforce rules that prohibit members of Congress carry firearms.
The White House has not said who it will appoint.
Some Republicans have become more explicit about their desire to carry firearms in the Capitol complex.
“I always feel better when I know my guys on the floor are armed,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
After the riots on Capitol Hill, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had magnetometers installed around the House chamber to test members before they entered the room and to make comply with the no weapons policy. But the moment the Republicans took the majority, the magazines fell apart.
Gaetz said he believes the members began bringing weapons to the ground immediately.
“Absolutely, the day the metal detectors came down,” he said. “Maybe the day before. Who knows?»
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee voted this month to kill a Democratic amendment that would have banned firearms in the courtroom.
“We have the right to defend ourselves, and we are going to defend that right to keep you in the United States,” Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, said at the time.
Huffman said he believes the ability of members to bring weapons into the Capitol complex unchecked is a growing security threat. “It makes us all less safe,” he said, adding that threats against lawmakers, which remain near all-time highs, warrant a review of the Capitol’s screening policy.
The mix of political passion and guns also makes Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, a former sheriff, nervous.
“I support the Second Amendment. I’m all about it,» Nehls said. “But this is the United States Capitol, and it’s kind of like, you know, would you allow people to carry guns in county courthouse in civil lawsuits related to divorce proceedings? No. The emotions are too high.”
But some of his fellow Republicans argue that being elected to Congress alone is a proper vetting that should give members the special right not to be vetted.
“If we are trusted with the world’s greatest secrets and the most exquisite intelligence, we can probably be trusted with our own safety and the safety of our co-workers,” Gaetz said.
Huffman says the law of averages dictates that there is substantial risk associated with a group of 535 people entering the Capitol campus without screening. «It’s crazy to assume» that members of Congress, not to mention the «dozens» of employees in each of their offices, are immune to the risk factors for gun violence, he said.
«It’s going to happen at some point, and I hope we can have a bit of foresight and common sense to prevent it,» he said.
frank thorp contributed.