Security detail members for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner are under fire for leaving their weapons stowed in restrooms at the Capitol complex, where they could easily be found by anyone stopping to use the facilities.
Earlier this year, a member of McConnell's detail left his Glock and a magazine inside a toilet seat cover holder in a Capitol Visitor Center bathroom stall,
reports Roll Call, where an employee found the weapon.
Meanwhile, in March, a member of Boehner's security detail left his firearm, a loaded Glock, in the bathroom of the speaker's suite, where a child, age 7 or 8, who was visiting the Capitol with his parents, found it.
Yet a third one was found on April 16, when a janitor was cleaning the Capitol Police headquarters. That weapon was left out in plain sight, reports Roll Call.
A Glock can be especially dangerous, as it will fire when a trigger is pulled. The one left behind in the CVC bathroom, though, was not as likely to be found by a tourist or visitor, officials said.
On Thursday, a police report obtained from the Capitol Police board revealed that the department's Office of Professional Responsibility said McConnell's officer should be suspended for six days, while the other two cases remain under investigation.
Capitol Police are not required to disclose such incidents, reports Roll Call, so it's not certain how many such guns have been left lying around.
"The department takes very seriously all breaches of department rules and has established policies that address such matters," said Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman. "Each disciplinary matter is thoroughly investigated and reviewed, employees are held accountable for their conduct, and they are provided due process in adjudicating these matters."
Boehner and McConnell did not comment on the report, and the Capitol Police said the department does not publicly discuss internal personnel matters. The leaders of the Committee on House Administration said the discoveries are troubling,
reports ABC News.
"The fact that dangerous weapons were left in the open, potentially within reach of the general public, is unacceptable," said committee Chairwoman Candice Miller, R-Mich., and ranking member Robert Brady, D-Pa..
"We will be looking for a full briefing on these incidents, how they happened, what corrective action has been taken, and how we hopefully do not have similar instances in the future."