(OPINION) ETH – Rand Paul who was recently a guest on Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham Show warned that the nation’s capital is becoming ”a militarized zone.” Paul stated:

“Well, the thing is Laura, you know government. They either underreact or overreact. So, I think there was too little security obviously last week, and now we’re going to become a militarized zone. And they’re checking congressmen as they come in to see if they have a sharp pencil or a sharp pen.

So, it’s gotten ridiculous. And so, we’ll see what happens and whether it’s permanent. But most people who write about civil liberties say that in times of war, or in times of stress, or in times of crisis, you lose your civil liberties very quickly. But it’s very difficult to get them back. Because government, once it grows large, never wants to give up on this”.

But yes, we have to resist this. And we have to have security, obviously. But I think living in a wartime state with…we have troops in the Capitol. They’re staying in the Capitol. they’re platooning and camping in the Capitol.

So, I understand, that last week, we weren’t prepared and that was a real problem, and I regret everything that happened last week with that. But going forward, this week, I think we — there’s a danger of overreacting.”