Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said Wednesday that Congress should consider firearm reciprocity to make it easier for lawmakers to carry guns in Washington, D.C., following an attack on a congressional baseball practice that left Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) in critical condition.

Loudermilk was one of the lawmakers on the field when a gunman, identified as James Hodgkinson, began firing shots at them.

Virginia offers concealed-carry permits and allows citizens to carry firearms openly without a license. But Washington's tighter gun laws makes it more difficult for lawmakers to carry guns.

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“Most of us are here in D.C., so how do you just have the gun here and just transport it to Virginia?” the congressman told The Washington Post regarding the strict D.C. gun restrictions. “I think we need to look at some kind of reciprocity for members here.”

A reciprocity policy would recognize the firearm permits from lawmakers' home states within Washington.

"In Georgia, we have conceal-carry law which allows individual citizens to keep a weapon with them and in their car. Had my staff member - who was there - been in Georgia, he would have normally carried a weapon in the car. I carry my weapon in my car. And he was penned down in his vehicle that had a shot on the shooter," Loudermilk explained in an interview with The Hill's Molly K. Hooper.

Loudermilk also pointed out the increased security risks that come with being a congressman and suggested that more lawmakers outside of the leadership should receive full-time protection from Capitol Police.

Local Washington politicians have long pushed back on congressional efforts to loosen gun control laws in the capital.

Watch the video above to hear Loudermilk in his own words.