Pirro Threatens Jail Time for Lawful Gun Owners Who Travel to D.C. With Firearms

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Pirro Threatens Jail Time for Lawful Gun Owners Who Travel to D.C. With Firearms

The remarks by Jeannine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, prompted swift pushback from the Republican Party’s pro-Second Amendment wing.


Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in November. Eric Lee for The New York Times

By Robert Jimison
Reporting from Washington

Feb. 2, 2026

Jeannine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on Monday threatened jail time for anyone who enters the capital with a gun. ... In remarks on Fox News that could deepen a growing rift between gun owners and the Trump administration, Ms. Pirro declared that if anyone brings “a gun into the District, you mark my words, you’re going to jail. I don’t care if you have a license in another district and I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else.”

Her remarks prompted swift pushback from the Republican Party’s pro-Second Amendment wing, which was thrown into a cycle of confusion and frustration over comments from President Trump and some in his administration after Alex Pretti, a licensed gun owner, was shot by federal immigration agents last month during a protest in Minneapolis.

{snip}

Ms. Pirro’s remarks caught the attention of several Republican lawmakers, including Representative Greg Steube of Florida, a U.S. Army veteran, who said on social media that he travels into Washington from his home district every week with a firearm. “I have a license in Florida and DC to carry. And I will continue to carry to protect myself and others,” Mr. Steube wrote. “Come and Take it!”

Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, sought to dispute the legality of Ms. Pirro’s assertion by pointing to laws within the U.S. capital. “Non-residents can obtain a permit in DC — don’t ask me how I know,” he wrote on social media.

{snip}

Robert Jimison covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on defense issues and foreign policy.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Well, nothing to complain about there. nt

[Lovie777]

2. Come on.....

Republicans did not see this coming?

How can shithole be a dictator while the masses have guns?

[johnnyfins]

3. Wow. They are doing EVERYTHING they

have accused the "left" of doing for years.

[BaronChocula]

4. FASCISTS IN DISARRAY!

Someone needs to investigate how deep the Chaos goes. Get me Jake Tapper.!.. unless he's working on volume 2 of his Biden hit piece.

[Skittles]

5. *SNORT*

[Skittles]

6. BRING IT ON

[johnnyfins]

7. The real question, besides the fact that she

is an obvious drunken ghoul, is why would she say something like that? That statement is a big deal. TSF's statement about Alex Pretti: "I don't like that he had a gun". Sounds like dear leader is a little scared so he sent his box o wine attack dog out to make it clear. On fox news no less. There must be lots of confused RW gun owners this morning. And of course, where is the NRA? Protecting the good citizens against tyranny, I guess.

[Norrrm]

8. NRA is home counting their rubles

[IronLionZion]

9. I suspect many of those militia and NRA types are currently roaming the streets in masks

doing exactly the type of government tyranny they claimed to be against.

[Shambala]

10. Chuck has something to say about this

[tanyev]

11. Ooh, a lot of J6ers are gonna have to go back to jail!

No?


😒

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. MaddowBlog-Pirro's threat to jail gun owners inflames gun-rights advocates already sore at Trump

The top federal prosecutor in D.C. went into full damage-control mode on Tuesday morning.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/jeanine-pirro-second-amendment-gun-rights-jail

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s tenure as the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital hasn’t exactly been smooth. The former Fox News host has, just in recent months, lost key cases and launched absurd criminal investigations.

But the Trump-appointed prosecutor has nevertheless maintained a high public profile, making frequent appearances in conservative media, including a Fox News appearance on Monday in which Pirro unexpectedly threatened to arrest anyone who enters Washington, D.C., with a gun.

Pirro: "You bring a gun into the District, you mark my words, you're going to jail. I don't care if you have a license in another district and I don't care if you're a law abiding law owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this District, count on going to jail. And that makes all the difference"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-02T20:49:11.817Z

.....Second Amendment advocates — many of whom were already displeased after Donald Trump and other leading administration officials said Americans couldn’t bring guns to public events — were bothered anew after seeing Pirro’s comment.

It also sparked some mockery among Democrats, including Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who joked via social media that he was “old enough to remember the ‘Obama is going to grab your guns’ hysteria. Turns out it was the Trump White House.”

On Tuesday morning, Pirro scrambled to undo the damage she’d done, publishing an online item describing herself as “a proud supporter of the Second Amendment.” Roughly two hours later, she kept going with a minute-long video statement directed at “my fellow gun owners.”

Link to tweet

“Washington, D.C., law requires handguns be licensed in the district with the Metropolitan Police Department to be carried into our community,” Pirro said in the video, by way of a defense. “We are focused on individuals who are unlawfully carrying guns and will continue building on that momentum to keep our communities safe.”

“We’re taking guns off the street, illegal guns in the hands of criminals who want to use those guns to victimize law-abiding citizens,” she added. “There’s a big difference here. You’re responsible, you follow the laws, you’re not going to have a problem with me.”

Time will tell whether gun-rights advocates find this satisfactory, but shortly after Pirro began walking back her comments, a spokesperson for the National Association for Gun Rights argued via social media, “You can’t say you ‘support the Second Amendment’ while threatening to jail peaceful gun owners for crossing a city line.”