Rep. Greg Steube proposes bill to allow members of congress to bring firearms to work

On Friday, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fl) proposed a bill which would allow congressional staffers to legally carry firearms to and from work and store them at the Capitol during working hours.

“My bill is simple: any employee who is lawfully permitted to carry a firearm, stun gun, or self-defense spray will be able to bring those weapons on their commute to a House Office Building and safely store the weapon until they are ready to depart the building” Steube tweeted.

A release from Steube’s office confirmed that the bill would order Capitol Police to install and operate storage lockers next to the pedestrian entrances at each House office building, allowing “safe storage” for the firearms.

“My bill is simple: any employee who is lawfully permitted to carry a firearm, stun gun, or self-defense spray will be able to bring those weapons on their commute to a House Office Building and safely store the weapon until they are ready to depart the building,” Steube said in the statement.

The bill also notes that many staffers in the House have a walk as part of their commute to work and “many” of them have fallen victim to violent crime, which the bill also notes is an issue in Washington DC.

Data from Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department taken from 2021-2022 showed that violent crime dropped by about 7 percent during this time period.

A U.S. News and World Report found that D.C.’s overall crime rate, which takes into account both property and violent crime, is lower than the national average.

Crime date does show that over 200 homicides occurred in Washington DC in both 2022 and 2021.

The bill proposes that staffers should be permitted to use weapons such as self-defense sprays, stun guns and concealed firearms, for self-defense.

Both Federal Law and DC law ban weapons from being carried inside Federal buildings.