Updated

The Beltway’s buzzing over the arrest of an aide to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) for carrying Webb’s loaded gun in a bag through security at the Russell Senate Office building while the Senator was parking his car.

Looks clear to me that the aide will get a slap on the wrist, if anything at all.

Here’s a reminder of what happens to concealed carry permit holders who make the same mistake–but don’t have all the right connections.

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Question: If Sen. Webb lived in Roanoke, would the local rag have treated him like a sex offender, too?

Update: Reader B.B. has questions…

When I first heard about the Webb staffer gun possession incident a few hours ago, quite a few questions came to mind about the incident from a legal standpoint. I understand that the staffer is probably going to get hung out to dry, but my questions are all on Senator Webb, and is HE the one who isn’t obeying the law.

Is Senator Webb authorized to carry or possess a handgun in DC? The DC carry permit DOES get issued, if you’ve got connections (or if you’re working a private protection detail, usually around inauguration time only). If so, is it registered with DC? If not, how does he get around DC’s handgun/firearms registration laws? I thought Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison tried (unsuccessfully) to get her pistol legally registered with DC years back (just to keep in her DC home at the time) and was rebuffed, prompting her to attempt a repeal of DC’s handgun ban.

Is he (perhaps) a sworn Law Enforcement Officer in some jurisdiction and was given credentials to carry under HR 218?

There seems to be a lot of inconsistencies with the news reports coming out about whether or not Senators & Congressmen are exempt from our federal “disarmed victim” zones, in particular the Capitol and the associated offices of our elected representatives. What is the law? Even if all of the other DC possession laws aren’t the issue, would Jim Webb be legally able to bring a firearm into the Capitol?

Any word on what kind of handgun it was? I’d take Jim Webb for a 1911A1 kind of guy. Seven (or eight) rounds of 45ACP in the mag plus one in the pipe. I only ask this because a semiautomatic handgun in DC with a magazine capacity of 12 rounds or more constitutes a “machine gun” in DC. Yeah, I know, ridiculous, but something else that might be tacked on to the charges (and would be tacked on to the charges if you or I or any other “peon” dared to carry such a weapon in DC.)

Update: Reader Nelson C. writes…

In reading the text of the recent federal court ruling that overturned a portion of the D.C. gun ban (which ban still remains in effect pending appeal), I learned some details about D.C. gun laws.

Sen. Webb’s pistol is illegal anywhere inside the city limits of Washington, D.C. unless Mr. Webb registered the gun with the D.C. police department prior to the 1976 registration deadline. The only people who have been allowed to register privately-owned handguns in D.C. since 1976 are retired D.C. police officers. Active-duty D.C. cops cannot legally own a handgun unless they registered it prior to the 1976 deadline, though they can carry a department-issued sidearm
while on duty. Thus, if Sen. Webb’s pistol is less than 30 years old, it would not have existed in 1976 and he would not have been able to register it.

As for the separate issue of a concealed-firearm permit, a private citizen in D.C. can still obtain such a permit if the D.C.P.D. happens to feel like issuing it to him, but he can only carry a registered handgun, which makes it a moot point for people who moved to D.C. after 1976.