Introduction of the Department of the Treasury Officer Protection Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Department of the Treasury Officer Protection Act of 2024. This bill would help protect Treasury Department police officers and the public by allowing all the officers, including those who work at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), to carry their government firearms home.

BEP officers are not allowed to take their government firearms home. However, BEP officers can be targets because they wear uniforms to and from work. Many BEP officers carry personal firearms to and from work because they are not allowed to take their government firearms home, and some are forced to leave those personal firearms in their cars while they are on duty, creating a possibly dangerous situation.

Allowing BEP officers to carry their government firearms home will put them in the same position as Mint officers. Although both agencies are under the Treasury Department under Treasury Department rules, Mint officers are allowed to carry their government firearms home, while BEP officers are not. There is no meaningful distinction between officers for these two agencies. They should be treated equally.

This bill would allow all police officers in the Treasury Department to carry their government firearms home to protect officers and the public, eliminating separate carrying rules for the Treasury Department's different law enforcement agencies.

I ask my colleagues to support this bill.

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