Arizona Senator Aims Loaded Pink Gun at Reporter

Lori Klein later claims he stepped in front of laser sight
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2011 9:42 AM CDT
Arizona Senator Aims Loaded Gun at Reporter
Lori Klein is seen in this screenshot from an unrelated YouTube video.   (YouTube)

Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein has been taking some heat after pointing a loaded gun at a reporter with the safety off. The incident was related in a Sunday Arizona Republic article about Klein’s decision to carry a gun onto the Senate floor in the aftermath of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. “Oh, it’s so cute,” she told the reporter, as she pulled her pink Ruger from her purse and trained its laser sight on his chest.

She said the gun had no safety, but he needn’t worry because “I just didn’t have my hand on the trigger.” When blogs and other news outlets like the Arizona Guardian seized on the incident, Klein told another paper and a conservative blog that reporter Richard Ruelas had gotten in front of the gun. But Ruelas says that’s not true, and in his recordings of the interview, Klein is heard saying that she pointed the gun at him. The interview remained amiable, however. (More Lori Klein stories.)

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