Washington, D.C., police are looking into whether any laws were broken when two Republican congressmen posed for a picture with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in a House office building,
The Hill reports.
Colorado Rep. Ken Buck last week tweeted a photo of himself with South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy holding the rifle, which is covered with American flag logos.
Possessing an AR-15 inside the D.C. city limits is illegal, as former "Meet the Press" host
David Gregory found out after he used a 30-round magazine from an AR-15 on his show following the Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting in 2012.
Police ended up not charging Gregory, but a spokesman for the D.C. police told The Hill Buck's case has been referred to the Metropolitan Police Department for further investigation.
When contacted by The Hill, Buck said his rifle is "inoperable" and that he has permission of Capitol Police to keep it on display in his office in a locked case.
"I have a very patriotic AR-15 hanging in my office. It hangs directly above my Second Amendment flag," Buck told The Hill. "While safety protocols call for all guns to be treated as if they are loaded, this one isn't. Further, a close inspection of the only public photo of the rifle will show that the bolt carrier assembly is not in the rifle; it is in fact in Colorado."
Buck described the rifle as "a beautiful, patriotic paper weight."
He took it out of the case and photographed himself and Gowdy when the head of the Benghazi committee stopped by his office, according to Buck's tweet.
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