Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) is turning a reported police investigation into a fundraising opportunity.
In an email sent to supporters on Tuesday, Buck blasted “Anti-Gun Liberals” who he said reported him to police for posing in a photo on Capitol Hill holding his American flag-patterned AR-15 rifle alongside Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC).
“Anti-Gun Liberals are leading a full attack against Trey Gowdy and me over the picture taken above,” Buck said in the email. “Some have even gone far enough to report me to the police even though we had the gun checked out and approved by the U.S. Capitol Police.”
The Hill reported earlier Tuesday that the Washington, D.C. attorney general’s office referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police Department. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office told the publication that it’s illegal to possess an AR-15 in the District.
But a Capitol Police spokeswoman told The Hill that members of Congress are exempt from rules that prevent people from possessing assault weapons in the district. Buck was allowed to keep the rifle in his office and transport it on Capitol grounds as long as it was “unloaded and securely wrapped,” the spokeswoman, Kimberly Schneider, told the publication.
In the email, Buck asked supporters to donate to “strengthen our fight against anti-gun activists.”
“The Second Amendment exists to protect your God-given right to bear arms,” the email continued. “The actions by Anti-Gun Liberals against Trey Gowdy and me are just another attempt to strip us of our rights.”
View the email below:
This post has been updated.
