January 14, 2011 6:56 PM

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert Defends Letting Lawmakers Carry Guns in D.C.

Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert is working on introducing legislation that would allow members of Congress to carry concealed weapons in Washington, D.C., but he told CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante that this is an issue that goes beyond last Saturday's tragic rampage in Tucson.

"We're targets," he told Plante, "I'm not so much concerned about myself as I with those who would be around me, whether it's people I work with, whether it's family, but it is also a constitutional right."


Gohmert continued, "Washington, D .C ., is a federal enclave, it will not usurp any states rights, and we have the right to legislate within the District of Columbia. So it's just using our constitutional right."



While members of Congress are protected while on Capitol Hill, Gohmert is concerned with the safety of elected officals once they step out of those confines. "The professionals aren't walking with us by ourselves out in the District of Columbia unless you're one of the Republican or Democratic leaders," he noted, "Let me protect myself and use the constitutional law."

Gohmert also weighed in on Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's (D-N.Y.) gun control bill, which he doesn't think has a good chance of passing, that would ban high powered handgun magazine clips. Gohmert likened it obesity, saying: "The problem is not the type of guns and that kind of thing anymore than the problem with obesity in America is we have spoons that are too big and too numerous. It's not the spoons that make people fat and it's not the guns that kill people, it's people that kill people."


Plante asked Gohmert if his legislation does eventually pass, would he himself carry a concealed weapon in Washington. Gohmert replied, "Not all the time, but the criminals will have to wonder whether I am or whether I'm not. Most of the time I won't be but they'll never know unless they try something."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028614-503544.html