Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Rifle looking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez, came to town Friday to deliver her “constitutional conservatism” message to about 40 residents at the Baymont Inn.

To show her support for the 2nd Amendment, Boebert packs a Glock handgun on her thigh during speeches. Wait staff at her Shooters Grill restaurant in Rifle also are known for openly carrying handguns.

She said she is running for Congress because “our personal freedoms are under attack, our constitutional rights are under assault.”

“Its not complicated. Crazy liberals like Nancy Pelosi and (Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) and every other Democrat who hates America want to take away our rights and freedoms and our property. As conservatives, we just want to keep them. It is really that simple.”

She says her willingness to speak up and garner media attention for defending constitutional rights makes her a good candidate, because “I don’t see other congressmen doing that.”

Her upfront style led her to confront former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke on his stance to control assault rifles. She drove to a Aurora rally, grabbed a microphone and stated, “Hell no, you’re not.”

Boebert said she grew up in a Democrat home, but the party’s failed policies “limited our life.”

She objected to Tipton’s support for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, claiming it leads to “amnesty for 1 million illegal immigrants.”

But Tipton counters that the bill does not provide amnesty or citizenship for migrant workers, rather it modernizes the process by which U.S. farmers retain seasonal law-abiding migrant workers that meet stringent requirements and enter the U.S. legally.

Boebert hopes to win the Republican nomination for Tipton’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the Western Slope and Southern Colorado.

After Friday’s speech, she took questions from the audience on constitutional issues, the threat of Western Slope water bring diverted to the Front Range, and the ballot initiative asking voters whether wolves should be reintroduced in Colorado.

Boebert was invited to speak at the morning session of the Southwestern Colorado Livestock Association annual meeting on Saturday at the Cortez Elk’s Lodge, 2100 N. Dolores Road. Tipton also will speak, along with other elected officials, and officials from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and others. The morning session begins at 9 a.m.