Judge Jeanine Pirro speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. (Image: Gage Skidmore / Creative Commons)
MS NOW reports Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, walked back her threat that anyone bringing a firearm to the nation’s capital could face criminal penalties. It was on Monday that Pirro warned that gun owners could face jail time, regardless of whether the owner is legally permitted to carry the weapon.
“You bring a gun into the district, you mark my words, you’re going to jail,” Piro said during a Fox News interview on Monday. “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. You bring a gun into this district, count on going to jail and hope you get the gun back.”
But Piro retreated form that stance in a Tuesday video posted to X, after severe backlash from Second Amendment enthusiasts, who comprise a sizable portion of the Republican Party and who remain single-issue Republican voters during elections and midterms.
“Some people are concerned about something I said yesterday, so I want to be crystal clear. I am a proud supporter of the second amendment (sic). I have guns myself, long guns, hand guns, and i’m a proud high heeled gun owner,” Pirro said in her video.
Pirro “clarified” in her minute-long video that lawful gun owners would not be targeted by federal authorities.
“Washington, D.C. law requires handguns be licensed in the District with the Metropolitan Police Department to be carried into our community,” Pirro said. “We are focused on individuals who are unlawfully carrying guns and will continue building on that momentum to keep our communities safe.”
MS NOW reports that Pirro’s comments “reflect an intensifying debate over gun rights and law enforcement practices” within the Republican Party, thanks to President Donald Trump’s stubborn hostility to a gun owner who was disarmed by federal authorities in Minneapolis before being shot in the back by multiple agents.
Pirro’s Monday remarks drew attacks from both Republican lawmakers and gun rights groups who argued that her position undermines constitutional rights. MS NOW reports the National Association for Gun Rights called Pirro’s comments “unacceptable and intolerable.” They were joined by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., a gun owner who openly challenged Pirro to take his weapon away while he was in Washington.
“I will continue to carry to protect myself and others,” Steube posted on social media. “Come and take it!”
This would not be the first time Pirro’s own gung-ho statements and boasts have come back to haunt her.
"Assault a law enforcement officer, and you’ll be prosecuted," Pirro wrote on X last year, after charging a man for throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer. "This guy thought it was funny — well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony."
Critics lambasted Pirro’s comments, pointing out that she had no hard feelings toward officer assault when a legion of MAGA enthusiasts attacked the Capitol after Trump lost the 2020 election.
A jury later refused to indict the sandwich thrower, compounding Pirro’s embarrassment and drawing mockery from social media, as well as claims that Pirro is incapable of indicting even a “ham sandwich."
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