Glock-toting Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert gave a bizarre reason Thursday to reject calls for increased gun regulation in the wake of Tuesday’s elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas — pointing out that the US didn’t “ban planes” after the 9/11 terror attacks.
“When 9/11 happened, we didn’t ban planes — we secured the cockpits,” Boebert told Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday.
Boebert did not acknowledge the sweeping changes to the national security apparatus that accompanied the securing of those cockpits — including the creation of an entire federal agency charged with vetting people before they can legally board a commercial plane.
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert made a tasteless, senseless comparison to the September 11 attacks following the Texas school shooting.STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images
Boebert argued, “When 9/11 happened, we didn’t ban planes.”EPA/JIM LO SCALZO
A hijacked commercial aircraft approaches the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.SETH MCALLISTER/AFP via Getty Images
The congresswoman also called Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke a “jerk” for interrupting a press conference by Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials Wednesday to demand action on gun control.
“Beto acted like a total jerk and tried to use the deaths of these children as a prop to advance his political candidacy,” she said.
Boebert has made a name for herself as a proponent of gun rights.
Soccer teammates of Tess Mata, who died in the shooting, cry as they visit a makeshift memorial for their fallen classmates in Uvalde, Texas. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Lauren Boebert boldly called Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke a “jerk.”REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas
The Republican — who before wining her office founded a firearm-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colorado — has vowed to show up to work armed and tussled with Capitol Police early last year after setting off a metal detector set up in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.