Republicans push back on Pirro after she threatens jail time for lawful gun owners

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro received blowback from Republican lawmakers after she threatened jail time for any person who entered the city with a firearm.

If anyone brings “a gun into the District, you mark my words, you’re going to jail,” she said Monday on Fox News.

She continued, “I don’t care if you have a license in another district and I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else.”

Her remarks caught the eye of several Republican congressional members who made their views known on social media.

One was Florida Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, who said he travels to the capital from his home district every week with a firearm.

“I have a license in Florida and DC to carry. And I will continue to carry to protect myself and others,” Mr. Steube wrote. “Come and Take it!”

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky argued the legality of Ms. Pirro’s declaration, saying that according to District laws, “Non-residents can obtain a permit in DC — don’t ask me how I know.”

Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who owns a gun store, wrote, “Shall NOT be infringed is NOT a suggestion. We need nationwide concealed carry reciprocity NOW.”

He added, “Our Second Amendment freedoms don’t disappear when we cross state lines or enter our nation’s capital city.”

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said, “This is not how this works” and that Attorney General Pam Bondi “needs to have a quick conversation & course correction here.”

By Tuesday morning, Ms. Pirro released a statement on X clarifying her initial remarks: “Let me be clear: I am a proud supporter of the Second Amendment. Washington, D.C. law requires handguns be licensed in the District with the Metropolitan Police Department to be carried into our community.”

She continued, “We are focused on individuals who are unlawfully carrying guns and will continue building on that momentum to keep our communities safe.”

The commotion between Republican lawmakers and Ms. Pirro happened not long after gun rights organizations took issue with how President Trump and some in his administration reacted after Alex Pretti, a licensed gun owner, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents last month during a protest in Minneapolis.

“I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff,” Mr. Trump said during a stop in Iowa last week.

The Firearms Policy Coalition responded to Mr. Trump, saying, “There is no question that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense — including at protests.

“And people morally exercising their constitutionally protected natural rights do not obstruct justice. To be sure, no justice can exist without the ability of the People to exercise those rights in the first place.

“The mere presence of a firearm does not erase a person’s rights, does not turn lawful conduct into wrongdoing, and does not make someone fair game to be arrested or killed for the government’s convenience.”