Gabrielle Giffords' shooting leads some lawmakers to say they'll carry weapons to protect themselves

Two lawmakers said Sunday they'll pack heat back home after the deadly attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The decision by Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) raises new questions about whether lawmakers should carry guns for self defense - or need to.

"After the elections, I let my guard down," Shuler, an ex-NFL player, told Politico. "Now I know I need to have [my gun] on me."

The U.S. Marshals Service can deputize a member of Congress as a special deputy marshal if a threat assessment shows they are in danger, a federal law enforcement official said.

Carrying a special deputy badge allows the bearer to carry a concealed handgun anywhere, including inside a federal building like the U.S. Capitol.

Those who are so deputized aren't publicized, but Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has said he was granted deputy status after receiving death threats in the 1990s.

Most members prefer to accept protection from plainclothes U.S. Capitol Police - a perk of power typically reserved only for top congressional leaders.

During last year's health care debate, the Capitol Police temporarily assigned bodyguards to several lawmakers after they were threatened.

Plans for a massive underground security screening center were already underway when crazed gunman Russell Weston shot his way into the Capitol on July 24, 1998, killing Officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who was House Leader Tom DeLay's bodyguard. Gibson heroically stopped the insane killer by wounding him.

The Capitol Visitors Center turned into a nearly $1 billion subterranean catacomb after the 9/11 attacks targeted the Capitol.

Yet lawmakers still walk out in the open between the Capitol and House and Senate office buildings.

Doesn't the 2nd amendment debar them from carrying weapons?

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

* A well regulated Militia,
George Mason: "Who are the militia? They consist of the whole people, except a few public officers."

* being necessary to the security of a free State,
Patrick Henry: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined... The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun."

* the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
Samuel Adams: "The Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms."

* shall not be infringed.
Thomas Jefferson: "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

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