WASHINGTON • A Virginia man was arrested when he tried to enter a restricted area near the United States Capitol with unauthorised credentials, a loaded handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to police.

Mr Wesley Allen Beeler of Front Royal, Virginia, was stopped by US Capitol police at about 6.30pm last Friday, according to a police report. He had driven up a security checkpoint at the intersection of E Street and North Capitol Street, about 800m from the Capitol building.

The arrest came at a time of high alert in Washington as it prepares for Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Barriers have been erected, streets closed, and thousands of police officers and National Guards troops deployed after supporters of President Donald Trump overran the Capitol on Jan 6, when lawmakers were meeting to officially recognise Mr Biden's win.

While one officer was checking Mr Beeler's credentials, another noticed that he had several "firearm-related decals" on the rear windshield of his Ford F-150 pickup truck, according to a police affidavit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court on Saturday.

One of the decals said "Assault Life" and had a picture of a rifle; a second decal said "If they come for your guns, Give 'Em your bullets first".

The officers asked Mr Beeler, 31, if he was carrying any weapons, and he said he had a Glock pistol under the centre armrest of his truck, according to the court documents.

The police handcuffed him and found the Glock 9mm pistol - with a loaded 17-round high capacity magazine - that had a bullet loaded into its firing chamber and the safety off. They also found 509 9mm rounds of hollow point and ball ammunition, as well as 21 shotgun shells. The shotgun shells and the pistol were both described in the police affidavit as having been in plain sight.

BLOOMBERG