front of MPD officers on 14th Street and Independence Avenue.[22] MPD advised over the radio that one individual was possibly armed with a "Glock" at Fourteenth Street and Constitution Avenue, and another was possibly armed with a "rifle" at Fifteenth Street and Constitution Avenue around 11:23 a.m.[23] The National Park Service detained an individual with a rifle between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.[24]
Far-right extremists brought guns into Washington or the surrounding area. Christopher Kuehne, a member of the Proud Boys, met up with friends on January 5th to discuss their plans for the following day. One person in attendance said he did not travel to Washington just to "march around" and asked, "do we have patriots here willing to take it by force?"[25] Kuehne told them he had guns, and he was ready to go.[26] During the attack, Kuehne helped prop open Capitol blast doors as besieged law enforcement retreated inside.[27] Guy Reffitt, a Three Percenter from Texas, attended the rally at the Ellipse, and then carried a loaded firearm onto Capitol grounds.[28] Jerod Thomas Bargar lost his gun—that he'd carried from the Ellipse in a 'We the People' holster[29]—while scuffling with police on the west side of the Capitol around 2:30 p.m.[30] Bargar wanted to be armed, he said, when he went into the "belly of the beast."[31]
Mark Andre Mazza drove from Indiana, bringing a Taurus revolver, a .45-caliber weapon that he loaded with both shotgun and hollow-point rounds.[32] After assaulting a police officer, he lost the weapon,[33] dropping it or losing it on the steps of the lower West Plaza leading to the Capitol's West Front Terrace.[34] The Select Committee reviewed Mazza's social media accounts before they were taken down, finding that he shared multiple conspiracy theories, including QAnon material.[35] Mazza later indicated that he intended to target House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling authorities that "you'd be here for another reason" if he had found the Speaker inside the Capitol.[36]
Lonnie Leroy Coffman from Falkville, Alabama, parked by the Capitol building before walking nearly 2 miles to the Ellipse to hear the President speak.[37] In his car, he had stocked a handgun, a rifle, a shotgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices, machetes, camouflage smoke devices, a bow and arrow, and 11 Mason jars filled with gasoline and styrofoam, as well as rags and a lighter (tools needed to make Molotov cocktails).[38] Police found two more handguns on Coffman when he was arrested later that day.[39]
Many in attendance were aware of Washington's prohibition on carrying a concealed weapon and made plans accordingly. The Oath Keepers left their guns stowed away in their cars or across State lines for easy access should they be needed.[40] The group staged a "quick reaction force" across
