Norton introduces bill to allow Treasury Department police officers to carry service weapons home

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., has introduced a bill that would allow "Treasury Department police officers, including those who work at the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), to carry their service weapons home with them after they are no longer on duty," her office announced on Tuesday.

The bill is formally titled, the Department of the Treasury Officer Protection Act of 2024.

 

Her office noted that U.S. Mint police officers can legally carry their service weapons home but BEP police officers cannot.

"BEP officers, therefore, often carry personal firearms while commuting to and from work because they wear uniforms and could be a target as security professionals," Norton's office said in a press release. "However, BEP officers have no place to securely store their weapons at government facilities, creating possibly dangerous situations of officers having to leave their firearms in their cars."

Norton, who has committee assignments but cannot cast House floor votes, said officers who "protect the public, risking their own lives, should be given the protection and convenience of carrying their service weapons home to protect themselves and the public alike."

She said that some BEP officers are "forced to leave those personal firearms in their cars while they are on duty, creating potentially dangerous situations."

Norton argued that the bill "would eliminate the need for officers to leave unguarded personal firearms in the vehicles and ensure BEP officers, who are potential targets because they wear uniforms to and from work, can protect themselves and the public even when off duty.”