Rep. Lauren Boebert fires back at criticism for having guns displayed in background of Zoom call: 'These are ready for use'

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is hitting out at critics who mocked her for her Zoom conference background.

Boebert virtually appeared at a House Natural Resources Committee meeting on Thursday, where she was seen sitting in front of a display of guns on a bookshelf in her home.

What are the details?

According to Business Insider, critics mocked the freshman lawmaker for what they said was the guns' "unsafe" storage, but she fought back, stating, "These are ready for use."

During the meeting Thursday, Boebert slammed the House Natural Resources Committee rule prohibiting firearms in its hearing room.

"This rule is absurd and discriminative," she said during the Zoom call. "This is a blatant violation of our constitutional rights."

She also requested the committee issue her "personal security detail" if the committee insisted on upholding the rule.

"I would like to request at this time personal security detail that the chairman pays for himself, for every time I'm stepping into the committee room," she said. "If this is passed, the chairman is trying to take responsibility for my personal safety while stripping away my Second Amendment rights."

Ultimately, the House Natural Resources Committee upheld the ban.

The outlet reported, "Per a 1967 regulation, Congress members are allowed to keep guns in their offices and transport them around the Capitol complex. However, there are some executions, including on the House and Senate floors. In recent weeks, Republican lawmakers, including Boebert, have touted [sic] the regulation and opposed what they perceive as restrictions to it."

A Democratic spokesperson told the outlet, "As far as we're concerned, we're not doing anything new here. We're restating existing policy."

What did people say about her background?

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) mocked Boebert on Thursday over her "gun fetish."

"Here's the reality, if someone wants to have a shrine to their gun fetish as a Zoom backdrop in their private life, they can do it. But this is our hearing room. And at some point, we will get past the COVID epidemic and we'll all start showing up in person. And our safety and our ability to conduct business civilly without feeling threatened is a relevant consideration, unfortunately," he said during the hearing.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) — a U.S. veteran — also blasted Boebert for the display.

"Let's call this what it is — a political stunt. I never stacked guns on a bookshelf when at war, let alone on a Zoom in my living room. Unless you're on patrol in Afghanistan, this is the right way to store a gun," Crow said in a tweet with a picture of a gun safe.

On Twitter, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) added, "I always thought my dirty dishes piled up and accumulating bacteria were the most dangerous thing in a Zoom background."

The move garnered substantial criticism elsewhere on social media, where Boebert fired back at a commenter who panned her for "unsafe gun storage."

"Who says this is storage? These are ready for use," she wrote.