Category: Second Amendement

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2 hours after the mass shooting in Colorado, Rep. Lauren Boebert sent a campaign email encouraging supporters to say ‘HELL NO’ to gun control

Rep Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Rep Lauren Boebert of Colorado

Screenshot via House Committee on Natural Resources

  • Rep. Lauren Boebert was tweeting about Biden while a mass shooting was unfolding in her home state.
  • Following the shooting that left ten dead, Boebert said she was praying for those affected.
  • The representative’s campaign reportedly sent a pro-gun email to supporters two hours after the shooting.
  • See more stories on Insider’s business page.

One of Congress’ most ardent Second Amendment supporters is facing backlash after a series of insensitive communications following a mass shooting that left ten dead in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket on Monday.

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has quickly made a name for herself as a pro-gun, right-wing ideologue during her short time in the House of Representatives, but her response to Monday’s shooting in her home state drew sharp criticism.

Reports of an active shooter situation at a King Soopers grocery store began circulating shortly before 3 pm local time. Thirty minutes later, a local livestream of the scene showed officers detaining a handcuffed, shirtless man who was covered in blood.

But as local law enforcement, media outlets, and politicians were awaiting more information about the incident, Boebert was tweeting about the US Southern border and President Biden.

“The White House just called a lid at 1:13pm today. Biden is back in the basement, figuratively at least,” she tweeted at 2:51 pm.

“Meanwhile, the country is in chaos and the border is coming apart at the seams,” she wrote.

Following a swift barrage of Twitter users blasting Boebert for her timing, the freshman representative issued a statement addressing the shooting.

“My prayers are with the shoppers, employees, first responders & others affected by the shooting in Boulder,” she tweeted. “May God be with them.”

Amid an ongoing spew of mass shootings in recent years, the stump phrase “thoughts and prayers” has become the go-to-response for many politicians, instead of tangible policy changes to address the gun violence epidemic in the United States.

But Boebert, who has hinted she carries a gun to work in the US Capitol and has appeared at a virtual committee meeting in front of a multi-gun display, was quickly back to championing gun rights Monday night.

Two hours after the shooting, Boebert’s campaign reportedly sent her supporters an email with a subject line that said, “I told Beto ‘HELL NO’ to taking our guns. Now we need to tell Joe Biden,” according to a tweet from journalist David Gura.

“Radical liberals in Washington, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and with President Biden’s blessing and support are trying to violate your due process and criminalize the private transfer of firearms,” a photo Gura tweeted of the email said. “Please help me stand up to the radical gun-grabbing left.”

She is the founder and owner of Shooters Grill, a Colorado restaurant infamous for staff that “proudly open carry as they serve their customers.”

Boebert has been a vocal opponent of gun control and background checks, often sharing a bogus story about a man being “beaten to death” outside her gun-themed restaurant as an avenue to advocate for gun rights. The local police department debunked her claims after an autopsy showed the man had died from a drug overdose.

Insider has reached out to Boebert’s campaign for comment.

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GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert was slammed on Twitter for bungling the basics of the Constitution

lauren boebert
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) on the House steps of the Capitol on Monday, January 4, 2021.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

  • Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was slammed on Twitter for bungling basic constitutional knowledge.
  • She said the Constitution was not meant to “rewrite the parts you don’t like.”
  • There have been 27 amendments to the Constitution since it was first ratified in 1788.
  • Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Freshman GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has made headlines as a vocal and provocative defender of gun rights, but on Friday she was slammed by Twitter users for bungling a basic civics lesson.

Boebert, a self-professed champion of Constitutional rights, tweeted that “protecting and defending the Constitution doesn’t mean trying to rewrite the parts you don’t like.”

Her statement belies the fact that the document has changed and expanded multiple times, hence the additional amendments.

The Constitution, which was written in 1787, established America’s national government and fundamental laws. It was ratified by nine of the original 13 states in 1788.

When the Constitution was first drafted, the first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were not a part of the document. In December 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified.

There have been 27 amendments to the Constitution, which includes the Second Amendment, which guarantees a right to keep and bear arms, the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the 17th Amendment, which mandated the direct election of Senators in each state.

The blowback was swift.

Charlotte Clymer, the director of communications at Catholics for Choice, called out Boebert for her lack of knowledge about women’s suffrage.

“Lauren Boebert is a member of Congress and doesn’t understand that we have literally rewritten/revised the Constitution 27 times to do things like abolish slavery and, you know, extend the right to vote and run for office to women … like Lauren Boebert,” she tweeted.

Former South Carolina Democratic state Rep. Bakari Sellers made a reference to the television game show “Jeopardy,” tweeting “What are amendments for $200?”

The GOP congresswoman, who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory while denying that she is a follower, has previously gone viral for her pro-gun political statements, including the release of an ad where she indicated that she would carry her handgun on the Capitol grounds.

During a virtual meeting this week, Boebert sported a backdrop with multiple firearms while the House Natural Resources Committee debated a proposed rule to ban firearms in its hearing room.

Boebert ridiculed the move, even calling for Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, the committee chair, to issue a personal security detail for her if she couldn’t carry a firearm.

While members of Congress can keep firearms in their offices, they cannot bring them inside the House and Senate chambers.

“This rule is absurd and discriminative,” Boebert complained. “This is a blatant violation of our constitutional rights.”

Despite Boebert’s objections, the rule was approved by a voice vote.

Read the original article on Business Insider