WASHINGTON – Days after a congressional staffer was arrested for bringing a gun to a legislative office building, a second man was arrested for bringing a loaded hand gun to the Cannon Office Building.
U.S. Capitol Police say Ronald W. Prestage, 59 of Camden, South Carolina, was arrested on a charge of carrying a pistol without a license. A loaded, 9 mm Ruger was found during a security search at the rotunda entrance about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Friday, Ryan Shucard, press secretary for Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tom Marino, was also arrested at the Cannon building for carrying a a Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun and magazine. He was also charged with a carrying a pistol without a license, a felony.
The arrests come amid efforts to strip gun restrictions from local D.C. laws. A freshman lawmaker inserted an amendment to a House budget bill that would prevent D.C. from spending tax dollars to enforce its local gun laws, which include licensing and fingerprint requirements.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s lone voice in Congress, has criticized Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, for trying to interfere with D.C. laws but not similarly taking steps to open federal buildings, including those on Capitol Hill, to guns.
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