Posted on 03/30/2007 6:57:30 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
Look out, Webb's got a gun Charles Reichley Thursday, March 29, 2007
On Monday, James Thompson, an aide to Virginia Senator James Webb, was arrested carrying a loaded gun into the Senate Office building in Washington D.C. Thompson spent a night in jail for carrying a pistol without a license. That was one night too many.
Senator Webb is a strong supporter of gun rights. He has a concealed carry permit, and a strong rating from the National Rifle Association. And Virginia is a good state for gun owners. The District, on the other hand, has banned guns. A federal appeals court recently found the ban unconstitutional, but for now it is still law. If you get caught with a gun, you will be punished for possessing the means to defend yourself.
The gun was in one of Webb's bags, and belonged to the senator. A "senior Democratic aide" said Webb gave Thompson the bag with the gun when he dropped Webb off at the airport. Thompson didn't know the gun was in the bag. Webb says he didn't give the gun to Thompson. It will probably be a while before we learn the truth.
I support Webb's position on gun ownership, but fault him for two reasons. First, reports say the gun was loaded. The NRA's gun safety brochure clearly states that your weapon should always be unloaded until you are ready to use it. Carrying a loaded weapon in a packed bag is asking for trouble, and Webb should know better.
More seriously, his actions give support to the enemies of the Second Amendment. The common argument against allowing citizens to own guns is that people can't be trusted to handle them properly and to behave responsibly. James Webb is a senator, a trained Marine and a long-time NRA member. If anybody could follow the rules of gun ownership, it would be Webb.
And yet Webb left his loaded gun in a bag in a car. He allowed a person without a permit to gain access to his weapon. Because Webb didn't tell Thompson, Thompson didn't know he had a gun in the bag, which means he didn't safeguard it properly. This is exactly the shoddy mistreatment and mishandling of a weapon that gun opponents point to when they try to take our guns away.
Webb let his longtime friend remain in jail overnight for doing nothing more than taking Webb's bags to his office. His denial of responsibility suggests Webb wants his aide to take the fall. Hopefully, Thompson will not pay the penalty for Webb's failure to take proper care with his weapon.
This brings to mind a story from Prince William County. It is a story of another person who inadvertently carried a weapon in a bag to a place the weapon was not supposed to be. It did not turn out well for the perpetrator.
On March 6, 2000, Anne Esteban, an art teacher in the county school system, arrived at school with her art supplies in a zipped yellow bag. Another teacher opened her bag and found a loaded revolver. The teacher told the authorities, and Anne was arrested.
Esteban had a concealed carry permit and carried the gun for self-defense. She had unloaded her school supplies the previous Saturday and placed the gun in the bag to take with her on errands. When she returned she put the bag in the closet without repacking. In her rush to get to school, she grabbed her supply bag, forgetting there was a weapon in the bag.
Anne was willing to accept a reasonable punishment. Instead, prosecutors made an example of her, bringing felony charges for having a gun at school. She was convicted, fined, sentenced to prison and fired from her job. Her husband took two jobs to pay the legal bills. She can't get a job teaching. All because she forgot she had a gun in her bag.
Like Senator Webb, Anne carelessly left a loaded gun in a bag. But, because she was just a teacher, she lost her job, and is now a convicted felon. And because James Webb is a Democratic senator, he will suffer no penalty, and any punishment will be borne by his friend who unwittingly carried Webb's bags for him.
Jimmy's got a gun
Jimmy's lost a gun
Jimmy needs a gun
Jimmy's got a gun
Webb is creep and a liar, in other words, a good democrat.
More seriously, his actions give support to the enemies of the Second Amendment. The common argument against allowing citizens to own guns is that people can't be trusted to handle them properly and to behave responsibly. James Webb is a senator, a trained Marine and a long-time NRA member. If anybody could follow the rules of gun ownership, it would be Webb.
And yet Webb left his loaded gun in a bag in a car. He allowed a person without a permit to gain access to his weapon. Because Webb didn't tell Thompson, Thompson didn't know he had a gun in the bag, which means he didn't safeguard it properly. This is exactly the shoddy mistreatment and mishandling of a weapon that gun opponents point to when they try to take our guns away.
But maybe Webb was trying to give gun owners a bad name. Isn't that how the Dems work? They take someone who's got "credibility" on an issue, and use them to push the issue. Afterall, Murtha's a former Marine and war hero, so why not use him to attack Bush's Iraq policy? And why not use Webb to attack gun rights?
In fairness to Webb - it does nothing to help his aide if he says he gave him gun. Then the Aide was knowingly was carrying gun. Could be that Webb never intended for Aide to carry gun into Senate and it was all a mix up.
I give Webb benifit of doubt on this. He is also standing up for his right to carry - if it was a typical Republican he would have fallen prosate to ground and joined HCI.
I find it unimaginable that he couldn't get a congressional aide out on bail without spending the night.
Of course, the whole idea of an aide to a senator getting thrown in jail for the night for what seems obvious to have been a simple misunderstanding reflects poorly on the capital police as well as Webb and his senate staff.
I mean, you carry a knife through airport security, they just take the knife and yell at your. They don't throw you in jail on your birthday.
So my opinion, maybe uninformed, is that the reason he was stuck overnight was that Webb said he didn't give him the gun, thus suggesting that the guy was not operating under his authority or with the right to have the gun.
We should of course also be lambasting DC for throwing the guy in jail. It should have been clear to them that the guy was not a criminal, was not trying to commit a criminal act, and was not a risk for flight or a danger to others.
I am surprised SWAT didn't raid his house looking for the rest of his arsenal.
No, the Muslims of Northern Virgiena are taking credit for his victory.
Seriously.
They now own him.
Or, as he affectionately calls them, the "towel-heads".
With the exception of gangbangers, narcotics dealers, professional assassins, pimps, bank robbers, carjackers, made Mafioso and their associates, and terrorists.
It's not news that webb is a sick, arrogant, creep.
Bullsh!t. What good is a gun if it isn't loaded?
My carry is always loaded (duh). And both of our HD weapons are always loaded. Otherwise, they're just paperweights.
I'm a gun owner. Safety is job #1.
So you own a gun. But it isn't loaded. That's cool. Just spit on your attacker.
I see we have a lot of anti-gun folks on this forum.
Or they do not understand the purpose of a gun. When you are attacked, just dial 911. That will fix everything.
I don't carry it loaded and bouncing around loose in a bag.
If it is loaded it is in my shoulder holster where I have complete control of it. #2 if it is in a bag it is just as useless as being unloaded unless you figure you have time to unzip a bag a fumble around in there to get a grip on the gun if someone presents a threat.
Remember, folks, this is the same man that drove around Watts in the late '60s (as an active duty serviceman, no less) pointing guns at Black people for kicks. Think he'd be in DC without his firearms given his pathological racism and hatred towards people of color (and towards Jews, Republicans, the mentally balanced, et al)... ?
Look on the bright side. At least he hasn't written any more books.
When you are attacked, just dial 911. That will fix everything.
Or, you can take the Jim Webb approach: Don't attack me-- I have a loaded gun and I'm not afraid to use it! Once I find it, that is. Wait, it's in my other car-- or did I give it to that guy at the office?
I agree with you that an unloaded weapon is virtually useless for protection. I hope you agree with me that a gun several states away, in someone else's possession, after you misplaced it in one of your three cars, is equally useless as protection.
I sense a Paul Shanklin parody comming soon.(aerosmith's jaimie's got a gun)
"Webb has got a gun...
Webb has got a gun...
let his aid rot in jail
cause he is too hot poop to fail...."
With a little luck, you would have known that one of the Virginia news papers, used the freedom of information act and got the entire list of Virginia permits and published them just a couple of weeks ago.
I am (was), in fact, aware of that. that why I referred to the matter as being dependent upon luck (i.e. the shifty morals of journalists) as opposed to law.
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