CO Lawmaker Leaves Loaded Gun In Committee Chamber
Was Representative Jared Wright so concerned about his committee meeting that he needed a loaded gun nearby?
I've got to wonder if he was planning to shoot up the room if he didn't get his way?
In the moments after lawmakers and visitors cleared a committee room Feb. 6 following a debate on concealed handgun permits, Rep. Jonathan Singer found a black canvas bag under the table where lawmakers sit.
Inside, Singer discovered a loaded handgun that belonged to Rep. Jared Wright, R-Fruita, who sits next to him on the House Local Government committee.
“I just immediately notified the Sergeant at Arms and soon we realized it was Jared’s bag,” Singer, a Democrat from Longmont, said Wednesday.
Wright, who is in his first term, told The Denver Post he often carries a concealed handgun inside the Capitol and under state statute has the right to do so as a peace officer. State law prohibits carrying a gun in the Capitol “without legal authority.”
“The bag was taken to my office where I got it back,” said Wright, who served in the Fruita Police Department from 2007 until 2011.
Guns must be the new blankies, always nearby to soothe the ruffled Republican.