False Alarm Shuts Down Capitol

The Rayburn House Office Building was locked down for hours after Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., reported hearing the sound of gunfire in the building's garage. All public schools in the District briefly went into lockdown as a result of the false alarm in the Capitol.

The noise apparently came from a construction work being done in the building, according to a Capitol Police spokesperson Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.

In this post 9-11 world every report of possible criminal/terrorist activity should be taken seriously, but it is patently ridiculous that Capitol Hill was shut down for hours because a New Jersey congressman got the willies.

The Keystone Cops, I mean Capitol Police, should have dispatched a small team of officers to investigate the report of gunfire. To shut down the Rayburn House Office Building for practically the whole day over a small incident is the epitome of overreaction and stupidity.

"This is very good news . . . It's a very happy conclusion to a long day," Schneider said at a news conference that was carried live by all the cable news outlets.

I beg to differ with Sgt. Schneider, now the terrorists know that all they have to do to shut down Congress is make one phone call reporting gunfire. Then they will tie up the police so they can attack elsewhere in the city?

We are not a nation of wusses, we shouldn't go into a code red alert everytime somebody sneezes.