Andy Harris faces new scrutiny: Did he try to take a gun onto the House floor?

Congressman Andy Harris has made national news again this week.

U.S. Capitol Police officials confirmed Friday that they are investigating a Thursday incident in which the 1st District Maryland Republican attempted to carry a concealed firearm into the U.S. House Chamber.

According to a report first published by HuffPost, Harris set off newly installed metal detectors while trying to enter the House floor, where members debate and vote on measures. When a Capitol Hill Police officer with a metal detector wand scanned Harris, the report said, a firearm was detected on the Congressman’s side, hidden under his suit coat.

Though a vote was in progress, police refused to let Harris in. The HuffPost reporter watching the incident said the police officer signaled a security agent that Harris had a gun on him by motioning toward his own firearm.

Harris then tried to get another House member to take the gun from him so he could go vote, but the colleague declined.

The HuffPost reporter also heard Harris complain to some fellow members that he had asked his staff to remind him about the screenings and they hadn’t.

Harris then left on the elevators and about 10 minutes later returned to the House chamber. He placed his cell phone and keys on a desk to the side, did not set off the magnetometer and was allowed to enter the House floor.

A Capitol Police official would only say that “USCP is investigating this matter.” When asked for details, the official said the USCP was aware that Harris had attempted to bring a gun onto the House floor, but the agency couldn’t comment on “an ongoing investigation.”

“Because his and his family’s lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial, for security reasons, the Congressman never confirms whether he nor anyone else he’s with are carrying a firearm for self-defense,” Chief of Staff Bryan Shuy wrote.

“As a matter of public record, he has a Maryland Handgun Permit. And the congressman always complies with the House metal detectors and wanding. The Congressman has never carried a firearm on the House floor,” Shuy wrote.

Metal detectors were added around the U.S. Capitol following the now infamous Jan. 6 siege. When lawmakers came back Jan. 12 for their first votes after the attack, they found magnetometers outside entrances to the House chamber.

Members of Congress have long been excused from passing through metal detectors, but House leadership have now mandated it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will fine members who bypass screenings $5,000 for their first offense and $10,000 for their second.

Members are allowed to carry a gun in House office buildings, the Capitol and on Capitol grounds. They are forbidden, however, from carrying firearms onto the floor.

Harris, who represents the Easter Shore and portions of the Baltimore suburbs, is a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus and has consistently won the support of the National Rifle Association.

Harris’ gun incident became immediate fodder for the hosts of talk radio and cable news channels. Joe Scarborough, a former Congressman who co-hosts “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, referred several times to Harris as “a complete idiot” on his Friday morning broadcast.

Harris has been in the news in recent weeks for nearly becoming involved in a House floor skirmish, refusing to validate the results of the presidential election, skipping the House vote on impeachment and declining to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.