On Feb. 1, 2023, at least two GOP members of Congress were photographed wearing an AR-15-shaped rifle pin: U.S.Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and Rep. Ana Paulina Luna, R-Fla. The lapels were spotted by Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif.:
As The Daily Beast reported, this was not the first time that such a pin appeared on a U.S representative. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., had been photographed with the pin in June 2021. In a later tweet, Clyde took credit for their 2023 appearance, announcing on Twitter that he handed the AR-15 pins out, and that he had plenty to spare:
Clyde is the owner of a gun store in his home state of Georgia. As reported by the Washington Post, the AR-15 pins were not the first weapons-based souvenir promoted by some GOP members of the 118th Congress:
Clyde's distribution of the gun-shaped pins comes after newly elected Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) passed out dummy grenades stamped with the GOP logo last week to other members of Congress, along with a note on his office letterhead emphasizing that the ordnance was made in Florida.
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