They forgot their guns were there
I sometimes refer to mishaps involving firearms as “stupid gun tricks.” I think “magic gun tricks” might be better in the tales below because in each case, the presence of the gun seems to have clouded the owner’s mind with a fog of forgetfulness. Both of these gentlemen were able to go about their daily routines and forget they were even packin’.
Trick #1 – Phillip Thompson, 45, former Marine and senior aide to U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Va., was arrested March 26 entering the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington because he had a loaded gun with two extra magazines in his briefcase. He was charged with carrying a handgun without a license.
The gun belonged to Webb, he said, and he “forgot” he was carrying it for the senator. On Friday the case was dropped. U.S. Attorney Jeff Taylor said he didn’t think the crime could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Trick #2 – David Huckabee, 26, son of Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was arrested Thursday at an Arkansas airport when an X-ray machine revealed he had a loaded Glock pistol in his carry-on bag.
He was charged with a misdemeanor of carrying a gun in a prohibited place. His dad said in a rush to the airport, David just grabbed a piece of luggage that he forgot he kept a gun in.
A guilty plea resulted in a suspended sentence and 10 days of community service that he can pay off with a $100 fine. Case closed faster than you can say Guantanamo.
In these days of heightened homeland security, does anyone think these guys would have gotten off so easy if say their names had been Muhammad or Hussein?
posted by David Wells at 9:39 PM
6 Comments:
at 9:32 AM, April 28, 2007 
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at 10:47 AM, April 28, 2007 
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at 11:07 PM, April 28, 2007 
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at 9:45 AM, April 29, 2007 
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at 11:46 AM, April 30, 2007 
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at 3:47 PM, May 01, 2007 
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Post a Comment*Heck, if their names had been Muhammad or Hussein, we wouldn't even hear about these stories. They'd be stuck in Guantanamo and detained for years without due process.
The Bush approach of trampling human rights in the name of "fighting terrorism" will surely go down in history as one of the low points in American history.
On a similar note, does anyone else find it appalling that Chiquita actually admitted to funding terrorist groups, yet walked away with just a slap on the wrist? I guess in this country, it's OK to break the law if you're a big corporation.
Gee, you seem surprised. You see, David laws like taxes, are for the little people. This is nothing new....(legislators carrying guns into restricted areas) much like the time Sen Kennedy's bodyguard tried to carry two submachine guns into the very same Capital Bldg. After all their lives are much more important than Hussien or Muhamoud, even more important than yours.
People can and do get so busy and /or behind in their schedules trying to deal with all of life's hassles, it is not a stretch at all to believe that these two gentlemen and others like them could have managed to forget they had weapons with them, especially if they did not go out of their way to pack them in their bags and briefcases.
I know it is incomprehensible to an anti-gun nut because their irrational fear of other people hurting them, including honest citizens, won't let them forget about weapons, but to someone who is not obsessed with crazy irrational thoughts, they could reach a point where the handling and/or carry of weapons becomes second nature that does not require conscious thought. The only time they might think about reaching for their weapon would be in response to danger. To these people, they might be presented with a series of events that draws their attention to other things, and with there being no danger in these other things, they might end up forgetting about the weapons. This is by no means a problem that would make them incapable of properly handling their weapons or making good judgements about their potential and/or actual use, it is just a fact of life.
"does anyone think these guys would have gotten off so easy if say their names had been Muhammad or Hussein?"
Holy Political Correctness, Batman! The Enquirer thinks Muslims shouldn't be scrutinized more closely than Americans! They've forgotten the well-known maxim, "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims."
"Holy Political Correctness, Batman!"
Forget PC, this is reality. The other reality is that terrorists come in all stripes but the only ones that get their religion mentioned are Muslims. Terrorist Dr. Robert Goldstein, the Jewish podiatrist who had guns, bombs and plans to blow up 50 mosques in Florida and kill Muslims, was never labeled a "Jewish terrorist". Terrorist Timothy McVeigh was never called a "Christian terrorist". This false statement that "all terrorists are Muslims" is just more propaganda meant to keep us in perpetual fear so we don't see or care that the current administration is slowly but surely destroying our civil rights and our constitution.
Okay, then let's just say: 99.9% of terrorists are Muslim.
There, that's better...
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