Rumor: Webb Staffer Arrested for Smuggling Gun into Capitol
Staffers Joke of the "Macaca Curse" for VA Sens.
By AmandaBCarpenter Posted in Congress — Comments (39) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Capitol Police just sent out a message that said:
A man entered the Lower Delaware & C Street Door of the RSOB at approximately 10:50 a.m. An administrative search (x-ray machine) revealed that he was in possession of a loaded pistol with 2 additional fully loaded magazines. It was determined that he did not have a license to carry a pistol in the District of Columbia. He was in possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition. He was subsequently placed under arrest and charged with Carrying a Pistol Without a License, Unregistered Firearm and Unregistered Ammunition.
Rumor has it, it was one of Sen. Jim "Fightin!" Webb's (D.-Va.) staffers...
A source called Human Events Editor Jed Babbin and told him "Capitol Police apparently broadcast the arrest on their personal radios and then went quiet" prior to the release of the note above. Stay tuned.
Update by Jeff: According to Drudge, the staffer was arrested for "inadvertently' holding the senator's loaded gun, according to a person close to the investigation. A Senate staffer reports that Thompson was arrested for carrying the gun in a bag through security at the Russell Senate Office building while the Senator was parking his car."
The AP has more.
« Rep. Capuano's Newspeak for Censorship — Comments (5) | Is Henry Waxman Colluding With the Washington Post? — Comments (11) »
Rumor: Webb Staffer Arrested for Smuggling Gun into Capitol 39 Comments (0 topical, 39 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
It reeks of "I smell a flip-flopper" because now that this is public, Jim Webb is probably going to reverse his position on allowing "the public" to carry firearms.
After all, if one of his aides has access to a loaded weapon with out a license, that means *anyone* has one, right? Right?
I smell a big rat on this and I think that rat's name is Jim Webb.
I don't know what "ungregistered" ammo is either, but it's that was the language that the Capitol Police sent out.
Mr. Webb really has a nack for instilling confidence in his abilities as a Senator. The people of Virginia must be proud!
Wubbies World - The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you actually aim for it!
You're not. You must obey laws. Laws don't apply to Jim Webb. He's truly the closest thing the Senate has to Chuck Norris. /sarcasm>
Kyoto Now! (Because only pollution from the US hurts the planet)
According to Drudge - It was Webb's gun and ammunition!!!!!
Wubbies World - The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you actually aim for it!
Watch next weekend for Webb to reverse his position on D.C. citizens owning guns for personal protection. If I'm wrong, I'll owe Jim Webb $50. Otherwise he owes me $1,000,000.
Webb needs a "reason" to oppose the liberalization of gun laws in D.C. The best way to have a reason is to create one. My very strong feeling is that Webb set himself up so that he can claim that he's opposed to gun liberalization in D.C.
... Senators and Congressmen can carry guns on Federal property, but not staffers. The staffer will probalby have to resign, and be convicted of something, but I would wager to say that jail time is unlikely.
This just has comedy written all over it. Will Democrats rush to the defense of Webb's staffer by using the recent circuit court decision on the DC gun ban? Will Republicans? Who knows. But these and other moving parts will guarantee comedy. Dems are in pickle.
Any ideas why Senators and Congressmen are allowed to carry guns of Federal Property? More than why they are allowed I guess is why do they feel they need to. Do they do such a bad job paying their security (the capitol police) they they must defend themselves. I'm all for right to bear arms, but this again is an instance where our elected officials think they are better than those who pay the bills.
Congress almost always exempts its own members from any laws that hurt the life, liberty, or property of the citizenry.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
Is why Jim Webb has a license to carry one when he leaves it sitting in a bag carried by one of his staffers. As far as I know, in big cities like D.C. and Chicago you *can* get a license to carry a handgun, even though 99% of the people cannot, if you submit the proper application to the proper authorities. However, Jim Webb has gotten sloppy with his weapon, and I think that's deliberate. You don't leave a gun in a staffer's bag without thinking through the potential consequences when they walk into the Senate.
A few questions:
1) Did Jim Webb ever have the gun on his person himself when he went into the Senate office building? Did he declare the gun then?
2) Why did Jim Webb put the gun, or allow the gun to be put, into the bag that his aide was carrying without a license?
3) What kind of license does Jim Webb have to carry that firearm?
Those are all very important questions and I'm sure they're going to play out over the next week.
Personally I think that anyone in D.C. should be allowed to carry a firearm for self-protection, so long as they have a license for it and it wasn't smuggled into the Senate inside a paper bag or a carryon bag, etc.
I think Jim Webb just demonstrated that Democrats are the only people in the world who should have a lot of extra scrutiny before they're trusted to carry firearms. But we already knew that.
nobody else does?
Also, the staffer will certainly take the fall, but I think the fact that it is registered to Webb is interesting. Why did the staffer have Webb's gun, and why did Webb give it to him?
harassment laws.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
...didn't pack illegal heat.
The occasionally unstable but always amusing Senator Webb should have left his firearms in the freezer.
--
"We can all do our part to save the planet by dying." - R.E. Finch
picking up on the "unstable" comment, is anyone else uncomfortable with the idea of someone as unstable as Jim Webb carryig a firearm?
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
This is from what appears to be a local news source for DC.
http://www.examiner.com/a-639759~Webb_staffer_arrested_with_loaded_pisto...
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - An aide to Sen. Jim Webb was taken into custody Monday morning after Capitol police said he tried to bring a loaded pistol into a Senate office building, a Capitol Police source told The Examiner.
The aide was dispatched to the Virginia Democrat's car to retrieve a bag, the source said. When the aide passed the bag through the scanners of the Russell Senate Office Building, police discovered a loaded handgun and two loaded magazines, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The aide remains in custody and will appear in court Tuesday, the police source said. The aide was not immediately identified.
Webb's spokeswoman did not return calls.
Who knows maybe Code Pink has them all a little shaken up and big bad Jim Webb is concerned for his safety, OR now that Virginians have seen what they elected into office he's spending some time looking over his sholder...
At least it's good for a laugh!
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
Into why this news was withheld!! This incident happened this morning and the news didn't break until after what would be considered a good length of time.
When someone climbs the fence it's live news, pretty much all the capitol happening are live and this was buried for hours. Oh boy I can see it now, months of investigations, lol
OK how long before the left is defending THIS? Bets anyone?
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
"Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental drug overdose, according to Charlie Tiger, Seminole Police Chief."
Glad to see they have their priorities straight.
-
NARF
It's all quite innocent... Just a misunderstanding. The aide was sent to retrieve Webb's lunch, which he had "inadvertently" left in his car and, since the lunch bag and arsenal bag were identical... the error is easily explained…
And of course all of the Senators carry guns in their cars… loaded guns… with two extra loaded magazines….
Buuuahahahahaha…… okay, okay… I can’t do it… WAAHHHAHAHAHAHA…. Oh god, my sides hurt… AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA…… oh geeze… oh god… help me Jesus….
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
Its obvious that Webb sent the aide out to get his lunch. The Aide being a bit of a go getter decided to start from scratch hunting down the ingredients.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
that James Webb still supports the right to carry concealed firearms, although I have to wonder what the staffer was doing trying to bring it into the Capitol. Still, it could be an honest mistake.
A precedent embalms a principle.
- Disraeli
oh god, stop... stop... you're killing me here....haaahhh...hhhahhhh......
WAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
Webb was A rated by the NRA, has a CCW permit in VA, and pretty vocally supports the 2nd Amendment.
Whatever else we think of him, that's one issue he's right on.
Now, maybe this will bring home to some on the left the idiocy of DC's gun laws, by showing how easy it is for an innocent to fall foul of them.
to see if the CapCops would discover the gun...
" in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Abe Lincoln
A test, yeah, thats it, thats the ticket. It was a test.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I'm just trying to think of ANYTHING they could come up with as an excuse
" in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Abe Lincoln
Isn't this the same guy that expressed a desire to commit physical violence on the Commander in Chief when in his presence earlier this year?
Does the Secret Service still let this guy and his staff near the White House? Perhaps Wild Webb plans to challenge POTUS to a dual?
“They chose dishonor. They will have war.” - Winston Churchill
He is claiming that he has "lead credits". You know like Al has got "carbon credits". Democrats get to do that you know.
Unregistered ammo -- I know residents of other states will find this incredible, but it is illegal to possess unregistered ammo as well as a gun in DC. I know this because about 6 months ago I sat on a jury (one of the joys of living in DC is that your odds of being empanelled if you are not a felon or a lawyer --insert lawyer joke-- every two years are virtually 100%) and this jury was deciding a gun possession case.
The prosecution presented a pretty solid circumstantial case that the gun (loaded) had belonged to the defendant before he tried to dispose of it. The problem was that the witnesses were all police officers who had been involved in an unrelated bust when the yout appeared and ran off, throwing the gun away in the course of the chase.
Right. The gun was not used in the commission of a crime. The ownership was the crime. The jury was made up of left-wingers, Birkenstock liberals, conspiracy theorists, people who worked for the government and people who wanted to work for the government, and me. I can assure you I was the only person on the jury who believed that DC's law was unconstitutional.
Anyway. Possession of unregistered ammo was one of the counts, same as with Webb's executive assistant.
This brings up my second point: reciprocity. Webb has a concealed carry permit for a handgun in Virginia, where he lives. For people who live in one of the three jurisdicitions (DC, MD, VA)and work in another, various permits licenses etc apply in all three. I think if Webb had been carrying the gun in DC for which he has the license, it would not have been a problem. But we will see.
By the way, Webb is a supporter of gun rights and always has been. He received an A rating from the NRA in the Senate campaign, though Allen had the voting record. But their positions were essentially the same.
The gun possession case? Hung jury. The Patrick Fitzgerald type prosecutor told us we were the second jury to hear the
case (first had also ended in a hung jury) and he was planning to bring it again a third time.
Interestingly enough Webb is one of the politicans who was neutral or supportive on overturning the D.C. gun ban.
Apparently only his staffers are allowed to carry loaded weapons without a license in D.C. It must be nice to be an elected official.
I have to wonder what "unregistered ammunition" means, though. I didn't know that ammunition could be "registered". I'll chalk that up to journalism.