FACT CHECK: Did Lauren Boebert Say ‘A Mass Shooting Is A Small Price To Pay To Protect Our Second Amendment Rights?’
A post shared on Twitter purports Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert allegedly said, “a mass shooting is a small price to pay to protect our Second Amendment rights.”
Lauren Boebert: “A mass shooting is a small price to pay to protect our 2nd Amendment rights.”
— Captain Obvious (@TheFungi669) January 22, 2023
Verdict: False
A spokesperson for Boebert denied she ever made the purported remark. There is no evidence she made the statement on social media either.
Fact Check:
California police searched the home of 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, the man who allegedly opened fire on a Lunar New Year celebration Sunday, according to Reuters. Following the shooting, as well as other incidents in the state, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the second amendment a “suicide pact,” CBS News reported.
The tweet, liked over 3,000 times, purports Boebert allegedly said, “a mass shooting is a small price to pay to protect our Second Amendment rights.” The tweet, which was posted on Jan. 22, did not indicate when Boebert supposedly made the purported remark.
The claim is false. There are no credible news reports suggesting Boebert made the purported remark. Likewise, the purported remark neither appears on her website nor her verified social media accounts. In addition, there is no record of the purported remark on the deleted tweet tracker website, Politiwoops by ProPublica.
“She never said that,” Boebert’s spokesperson Ben Stout denied she ever made the purported remark in an email to Check Your Fact.
Boebert is a vocal proponent of the Second Amendment. Following a March 2021 shooting that occurred at a supermarket in Boulder, the Colorado representative called out President Joe Biden, labeling his plans to ban assault weapons as “an infringement on our Second Amendment,” according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Viral Image Of Lauren Boebert Holding A Rifle And A Bible Is Altered)
This is not the first time Boebert has been the target of misinformation online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a photo from October 2022 allegedly showing the Colorado lawmaker inappropriately touching a man at a rally.
