Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, on Monday dropped a gun in the lobby outside the House chambers as he was rushing in to cast a vote on an amendment to a state House bill that would affirm the right to abortion in state law.

The gun did not go off and no one was injured, according to witnesses.

The incident prompted Speaker of the House Alec Garnett, D-Denver, to hint his office might revisit rules that govern carrying a firearm at the Capitol. He didn’t go into details. 

“In Colorado, we expect firearm owners to be responsible at all times, and that certainly includes when they are carrying their firearms in the state capitol. Irresponsible behavior could have dire consequences,” Garnett said. “This incident was unacceptable and created a dangerous situation for lawmakers, staff and the public visiting the capitol.”

Garnett added his office is now looking at existing laws and rules and the options that exist “that would prevent this from happening again.” He also asked House Minority Leader Hugh McKean to talk to his caucus and “educate Holtorf on the proper way to safely carry a firearm in the Capitol.”

Holtorf did not respond to a request for comment.

State law prohibits firearms in the state Capitol. Those who have a permit to carry a gun concealed are also barred from bringing a firearm into public places where there are “security personnel and electronic weapons screening devices … permanently in place at each entrance to the building.”

But there’s an exception – an individual can carry a gun when it’s that person’s place of business.

House and Senate rules do not address the issue.

The state Capitol has installed metal detectors at public entrances and Colorado State Patrol staffing those detectors since 2007, in the wake of a shooting of a man who tried to enter the office of Gov. Bill Ritter. The man, who claimed he was the “emperor,” brandished a handgun. He was shot to death by state troopers in the hallway outside the governor’s office.

Members of the public must go through the metal detectors, but a Capitol badge granted to lawmakers, staff and members of the press allows people to bypass those screenings.

Holtorf is not the first to be caught with an unsecured firearm inside the state Capitol. In 2014, then-Rep. Jared Wright left a loaded handgun in a committee room after a public hearing on a concealed weapon bill. After the incident, Wright, now publisher of Colorado Politics, agreed to not bring a gun into the building.