This gun was left in a bathroom stall inside the Senate office portion of the Capitol Visitor Center on Jan. 29, according to a source. (Photo obtained by CQ Roll Call)
A member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s security detail left his Glock and magazine stuffed in the toilet seat cover holder of a Capitol Visitor Center bathroom stall on January 29. A worker there discovered the gun. Roll Call reports on this and two other disturbing instances when Capitol Police left loaded firearms in non-secure places.
A 7- or 8-year-old child visiting the Capitol with his parents found the next loaded Glock lost by a dignitary protection officer, according to the source. A member of the security detail for John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, allegedly left the firearm in the bathroom of the Speaker’s Suite on March 24.
A third Glock was found the night of April 16 by a janitor cleaning the Capitol Police headquarters building on D Street NE. The weapon was left in plain sight, sparking additional concern about the department charged with protecting one of the world’s most important and frequently visited complexes.
On Friday, CQ Roll Call spoke with members who called for a full investigation into firearms regulations. House Rules Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said he wanted Capitol Police to “retrain everyone that carries a gun.”
Unlike a gun with a traditional safety, a Glock will fire if the trigger is pulled — making the young boy’s alleged discovery of a gun in Boehner’s office particularly concerning. The gun lost by McConnell’s detail was left in a CVC bathroom within the Senate office space portion of the complex, lowering the likelihood it would be found by a tourist or visitor.
A report to the Capitol Police Board, obtained Thursday by CQ Roll Call, showed the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility recommended six days of suspension without pay for the officer involved in the Jan. 29 incident. The latter two are still under investigation, which consists of matching the serial number to the department’s inventory record, then interviewing the officer.