Freshman Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado Tweeted this photo of himself yesterday: 
 
 This is a photo of Rep. Buck with fellow Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina. The rifle they are holding is an AR-15 that Buck identifies as his own. 
 
 The problem? Assuming this photo was taken inside the boundaries of Washington, D.C., Ken Buck, the former district attorney of Weld County, Colorado, is now a lawbreaker. The AR-15 rifle is banned in the District of Columbia as an assault weapon, and gun magazines are limited to 10 rounds. As you can clearly see, Buck’s AR-15 (illegal in D.C.) is fitted with a 30-round magazine (illegal in D.C.). Under D.C.’s strict gun laws, weapons must also be registered–and obviously, you can’t do that if the weapon is already illegal to possess. All of these laws remain in effect even if your gun is painted with American flags. 
 
 Two years ago, NBC News’ David Gregory narrowly escaped prosecution in Washington, D.C., simply for bringing an unloaded 30 round magazine onto the set of his news broadcast. Short of a really good explanation we can’t think of right now–or, we suppose, the possibility this photo was taken across the Potomac in Virginia–we assume the D.C. Metropolitan Police will want to have a little chat with Rep. Buck about this. ||||| 7 PM EASTERN UPDATE: Adds fundraising details. 
 
 
 
 5 PM EASTERN UPDATE: Adds D.C. police response. 
 
 WASHINGTON — The politics of Twitter have struck again — and this time U.S. Rep. Ken Buck is the one in the crosshairs. 
 
 With detractors that is. The police are cool with it. 
 
 Last week, the freshman Republican from Windsor posted a picture on Twitter (left) that showed him posing in his office with fellow GOP lawmaker Trey Gowdy — and an AR-15 rifle painted with an American flag design. 
 
 “My friend Trey Gowdy stopped by the office — had to show him my AR-15,” wrote Buck on Twitter to commemorate the occasion. 
 
 The post soon attracted the attention of the liberal blog Colorado Pols, which raised the question of whether Buck was showcasing an illegal assault weapon in his Capitol Hill office. At issue was whether Buck was in violation of the strict gun laws of Washington D.C — which prohibit assault weapons that include the AR-15. 
 
 “Short of a really good explanation we can’t think of right now — or, we suppose, the possibility this photo was taken across the Potomac in Virginia — we assume the D.C. Metropolitan Police will want to have a little chat with Rep. Buck about this,” noted Colorado Pols in a blog post. 
 
 But reached Tuesday, the U.S. Capitol Police, which are responsible for protecting Congress, said everything was OK. Same goes for D.C. authorities, who wrote Tuesday afternoon that Capitol Police were handling the matter. 
 
 That’s a slight change from midday Tuesday, when it appeared as if D.C. authorities might investigate the gun and the photo. A spokesman with the Office of the Attorney General in D.C. said the matter had been referred to the Metropolitan Police Department. 
 
 “We have received several inquiries about the situation and have referred them and all relevant information to the Metropolitan Police Department for investigation,” said Robert Marus, spokesman for the D.C. attorney general. 
 
 But a D.C. police spokeswoman said late Tuesday that Capitol Police were in charge. And Capitol Police said nothing was wrong with Buck’s photo. 
 
 Asked about the gun tweet, a Buck spokeswoman released the following statement: 
 
 “I have a very patriotic AR15 hanging in my office. It hangs directly above my Second Amendment flag,” noted Buck in that statement. 
 
 “While safety protocols call for all guns to be treated as if they are loaded, this one isn’t. Further, a close inspection of the only public photo of the rifle will show that the bolt carrier assembly is not in the rifle; it is in fact in Colorado. 
 
 “As for how it arrived at the office: we received permission from the U.S. Capitol Police to bring the inoperable rifle to the office in a locked case where it was inspected and approved for display. 
 
 “It is a beautiful, patriotic paper weight,” he added. 
 
 The press office at the U.S. Capitol Police confirmed that Buck was in the clear. 
 
 Capitol police regulations “specifically provide that Members of Congress may maintain firearms within the confines of their office and they and any employee or agent of any Member of Congress may transport within the Capitol Grounds firearms unloaded and securely wrapped,” wrote Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman, in a statement. 
 
 Finally — because this is U.S. politics in the year 2015 — Buck on Tuesday used the whole episode as a way to raise money for his re-election. 
 
 His campaign sent around an e-mail with the AR-15 picture and the subject line: “Emergency! Anti-Gun Liberals Attack Trey Gowdy and Me.” 
 
 It concludes: “The Second Amendment exists to protect your God-given right to bear arms. The actions by Anti-Gun Liberals against Trey Gowdy and me are just another attempt to strip us of our rights. Donate here today to help strengthen our fight against anti-gun activists.” 
 
 Reached Tuesday evening, Buck confirmed the fundraising appeal and said he thought “a lot of people in Colorado are going to find the attempt to malign me offensive.” ||||| WASHINGTON — Two Republican lawmakers said nuts to Washington laws by brandishing an assault rifle — but they’re within their rights because they are congressmen, authorities said. 
 
 Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), a Tea Party Republican, tweeted a picture last week of him and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) in his House office, holding an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle decorated with an American flag pattern. 
 
 “My friend Trey Gowdy stopped by the office — had to show him my AR-15,” Buck tweeted. 
 
 Both lawmakers worked as prosecutors prior to their election to Congress. Gowdy is the chairman of a special House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. 
 
 Robert Marus, a spokesman for the D.C. attorney general, said that after receiving complaints about the gun-waving lawmakers, the office “referred them and all relevant information to the Metropolitan Police Department for investigation.” 
 
 Critics quickly noted the gun, similar to the Bushmaster AR-15 Adam Lanza used in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is banned in D.C., which prohibits semiautomatic assault weapons. 
 
 But Buck and Gowdy didn’t break the law, because Congress has exempted itself from local gun restrictions, according to Capitol Police. 
 
 Under federal law, “members of Congress may maintain firearms within the confines of their office,” Capitol Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Kimberly Schneider said Tuesday. 
 
 Through a spokeswoman, Buck, elected to the House in November, said Capitol cops had signed off on his hanging the gun in his office. 
 
 He called it “a beautiful, patriotic paperweight.” 
 
 “While safety protocols call for all guns to be treated as if they are loaded, this one isn’t,” Buck said. “A close inspection of the only public photo of the rifle will show that the bolt carrier assembly is not in the rifle; it is in fact in Colorado.” 
 
 He said he “received permission from the Capitol Police to bring the inoperable rifle to the office in a locked case where it was inspected and approved for display.” 
 
 After consulting with the Capitol Police, D.C. Metro Police decided to take no action, officials in the city said. 
 
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– Critics of conservative GOP Rep. Ken Buck's fondness for guns appear to have shot themselves in the foot. After the congressman tweeted a photo of himself and Rep. Trey Gowdy holding an assault rifle in his office last week, police received complaints that the AR-15 might violate Washington, DC's strict gun laws. "We assume the DC Metropolitan Police will want to have a little chat with Rep. Buck about this," wrote the Colorado Pols blog. Capitol police explained that Congress has exempted itself from local gun laws, and under federal law, "members of Congress may maintain firearms within the confines of their office," the New York Daily News reports. Buck tells the Hill that he received police permission to keep the American flag-painted rifle in his office, where it's usually in a locked case under his Second Amendment flag. He says it's a "beautiful, patriotic paperweight," and close inspection of the photo "will show that the bolt carrier assembly is not in the rifle; it is in fact in Colorado." Buck used the incident for a fundraising email yesterday, reports the Denver Post. "The actions by Anti-Gun Liberals against Trey Gowdy and me are just another attempt to strip us of our rights," he wrote, asking for donations "to help strengthen our fight against anti-gun activists." (In 2012, a woman was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at Gowdy.)