GOP congressman Greg Steube waves his guns around on Zoom during hearing on gun control legislation

Time to Log Off is a weekly series documenting the many ways our political figures show their whole asses online.

Here’s a word of advice to Florida Republican congressman Greg Steube: If you’re trying to make the case that gun owners are reasonable and responsible people, perhaps you should consider grabbing that big dial that says “ranting and raving and waving a potentially loaded weapon around during a congressional hearing” and turning that bad boy alllllll the way down to zero.

Of course, I’m under no illusions that Steube will actually listen to my advice, given he seems perfectly comfortable — if not downright enthusiastic — about coming across as a complete psycho when it comes to showing off his extensive collection of handguns, to the point that his fellow lawmakers are then compelled to worry, out loud, about his potential safety.

As part of an extended shtick regarding high-capacity ammunition magazines, which might be further regulated under a slate of new gun control measures being considered by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, an agitated-seeming Steube surprised his congressional colleagues by brandishing selections from his personal armory while whining about a potential future wherein he couldn’t shoot 20 bullets at a time.

When Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee made the extremely reasonable point that it would probably be for the best if her colleague wasn’t rapidly loading, reloading, and occasionally bobbling loaded pistols during a workplace meeting (or, y’know, ever really) Steube snapped that “I’m in my house. I can do whatever I want with my guns.”

Now, if you or I or basically 99% of the people in this country said the same thing while waving around the same items during a work meeting, it would warrant a stern talking-to from HR, if not a full-blown wellness check from the local police. But Steube seemed entirely unbothered by the possibility that maybe ... maybe ... he wasn’t exactly showcasing the sort of level-headed, in-control, responsible gun owner he had hoped he was.

I have to wonder, then, if he would have pulled the same sort of performance for his colleagues in person during a hearing in a committee chamber. Somehow I doubt it. In which case, what we have here is just one more example of a coworker taking some extreme WFH liberties during an important Zoom meeting.

That said, if you find yourself whipping out your pistols and yelling about how you need to shoot more bullets in the middle of your workday conference call, perhaps you should take a step back, take a deep breath, take an even deeper breath, and simply log off instead.