Voters Praise Lauren Boebert for Giving Them a Voice on Second Amendment Rights – Newsweek

Republican Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert has been praised by some of her constituents for giving them a voice, particularly on the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.

However, other constituents have felt differently, especially following her January 6 vote against certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. Critics say that votes like hers legitimized insurrectionists who rioted inside the Capitol in hopes of overturning the 2020 election. Others think that her focus on guns overshadows more-pressing issues facing her Colorado constituents.

Boebert has achieved notoriety in her opening days as a freshman representative. Barely two months into her first term, she is perhaps best known for supporting gun rights and expanding the fossil fuel industry as well as opposing Biden's election and his legislative effortsincluding putting forth bills to counter some of the president's executive orders on the environment and energy policy.

"I feel like she's my voice when I didn't feel like I had one," Boebert-supporter Jamie Cure told 5280, a Denver publication. "She's ignited me to be proud to be American again."

"She's a strong supporter of (the Second Amendment), as am I," Lou Vallario told The Daily Sentinel. Vallario is the sheriff of Garfield County, Colorado. "Our Second Amendment rights are always trying to get eroded. I'm proud of her for being able to stand up for the Second Amendment."

The freshman Republican Congress member has made guns a focus of her time in the Capitol. In a January 3 ad, she told viewers that she would "carry my Glock to Congress." She was also one of several Republicans who refused to participate in Capitol security measures following the January 6 insurrection.

On February 18, Boebert displayed three large firearms and a handgun in her background during a virtual House committee hearing. At the hearing, she pushed back on efforts to forbid Congress members from bringing guns to committee meetings.

She has repeatedly asserted that the Constitution gives all Americans the right to bear arms. She has also said that Congress members, in particular, should be allowed to carry guns in order to fight off any attackers in Washington D.C. or within the Capitol building.

But despite her advocacy for guns, it's unlikely that Boebert will vote on a firearms reform bill before she has to run for re-election in 2022, according to Mesa County Republican party chair and former Colorado state legislator Dan Thurlow.

"She should focus on what is she going to do for the people of Garfield County that are hurting, in the areas of COVID, health care, education and the need to diversify the economy because oil and gas is deteriorating," John Krousouloudis told The Sentinel. He is one of Boebert's constituents and the former chair of the Garfield Democratic Party.

Boebert has seats on the House Budget and Natural Resources Committees. On those committees, she has advocated for allowing for increasing multiple-use access on public lands, varying approaches to energy production, reducing the national debt and other issues, according to 5280.

Her approach to non-gun issues will most likely impact her re-election chances. Though she won her 2020 race by over 26,500 votes, representing just over 6 percent of the overall vote, a Democratic lawyer named Colin Wilhelm has already decided to challenge her in 2022.

Wilhelm told the Denver publication that he decided to run because of the January 6 insurrection. He added that he has heard from numerous Republicans who dislike Boebert's rhetoric. Unless Boebert adds more legislative accomplishments to her notoriety, Wilhelm and other opponents may use her focus on guns to make her more of a vulnerable political target.

Newsweek contacted Boebert's office for comment.

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Voters Praise Lauren Boebert for Giving Them a Voice on Second Amendment Rights - Newsweek