Freshman GOP lawmaker admits he’d feel safer in Congress with a weapon after Capitol attack

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Rep. Meijer: Trump accomplishments 'immediately erased' by Capitol riot

Freshman Michigan Republican discusses how Wednesday's storming of the Capitol reflects on the president.

The storming of the Capitol building last week put a new emphasis on security in Washington, but freshman Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., said Tuesday he’d feel even safer if he could carry a weapon in Congress.

Meijer told FOX Business Network's "Kennedy" that he and his fellow lawmakers are operating under the assumption there will be another attempted attack Wednesday as an impeachment resolution is brought to the House floor.

"Our assumption, especially those of us who went in knowing we were going to vote to certify the election ... and especially those who are going to vote our conscience tomorrow on impeachment, there’s an assumption that people will try to kill us," he said.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has fitted the doorways to the House chamber with metal detectors, but Meijer said this only makes him feel more vulnerable to danger.

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Fellow freshman Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., had campaigned to allow the carrying of firearms into Congress even before the Jan. 6 attack, explaining in an interview with "Fox & Friends" that she is her "own security."

Meijer reflected on the "utter chaos" inside the Capitol as rioters smashed windows and charged police officers, saying he felt betrayed by President Trump for his lack of leadership.

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"That was a time that we needed a definitive message," he explained. "And when he didn’t provide that, all of the accomplishments ... some really groundbreaking achievements – I’m a strong supporter of his push to end our wars overseas – everything that this administration had accomplished, I knew was immediately erased.

"There were great things that could have been cemented into the history books," Meijer added, "and instead, the violence we saw in the Capitol, the death of five people ... that’s going to be the legacy going forward."