Senator Webb's Handgun

Looks like the Senator set up his aide for failure on this one. Not sure why he chose to hand over responsibility for his weapon to his aide, but it certainly started the aide down the road to a felony. Well, that is only if he gets treated like the rest of us.

A top aide to Sen. James Webb was charged yesterday with trying to carry a loaded pistol and extra ammunition into a Senate office building, U.S. Capitol Police said.

The staffer, Phillip Thompson, told police that the gun belonged to Webb (D-Va.), authorities said. Thompson also said he forgot that the gun was in a briefcase and meant no harm, they said.

How did he forget that the gun was there? I still don't understand that. Every time I carry or have a gun with me I know where it is and that it's secure. I don't understand how someone, especially someone that isn't the owner, could carry a hand gun into a place where it will most assuredly be found.

A Senate official familiar with the incident said Webb gave the gun to Thompson as Thompson drove the senator to an airport earlier in the day. When Thompson arrived at the Senate building, he forgot he was carrying the weapon, the official said.

Another source said that Webb's gun was in a briefcase that was supposed to be dropped off at a location in Virginia before Thompson came into the District.

D.C. law bars people from carrying handguns and concealed weapons without licenses.

Wonder if Webb handed him the gun at the airport. Since they don't actually say which airport they used it's hard to say if it was in D.C. or not. Wonder if Webb has a carry permit for Washington?

CNN's article sounds like Webb handed it to him in Virginia, not in Washington D.C.

A congressional official who has been briefed on the incident by law enforcement told CNN that the handgun belonged to the senator. Thompson was driving Webb to a Washington-area airport, located in Virginia, earlier Monday morning, the official said, when Webb remembered that he had the gun on him. It is legal to carry a concealed handgun in Virginia.

He gave the weapon to Thompson, the official said, and asked him to take care of it. Thompson subsequently put the gun in a briefcase and returned to Capitol Hill where "he spaced, he literally forgot" that he had the gun, the official said.

Well that's as clear as mud.

I'll wager that Thompson gets off with nothing and Webb won't be held responsible for any of this either. Since Senators are obviously more equal than the rest of us.