Aide arrested with senator's gun

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

A staffer for freshman Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was arrested today by Capitol Police in Washington when he tried to pass through security with a bag containing a pistol and ammunition that belonged to the senator.

A statement from Webb's office said that to its knowledge, the incident was an "oversight" by the senator's executive assistant, Phillip Thompson.

But Thompson was arrested and charged by Capitol Police with "Carrying a Pistol Without a License, Unregistered Firearm and Unregistered Ammunition."

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Congressional rules allow congressmen and senators, but not staff, to have a gun on federal property.

The senator's office said Thompson "is a former Marine, a long-term friend and trusted employee of the Senator. We are still awaiting facts."

Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider issued a statement saying a man entered the Lower Delaware & C Street Door of the Russell Senate Office Building at about 10:50 a.m., and an x-ray machine "revealed he was in possession of a loaded pistol with two additional fully loaded magazines."

"It was determined that he did not have a license to carry a pistol in the District of Columbia," Schneider said. "He was in possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition."

Thompson then was placed under arrest and charged.

The senator was parking his car at the time of the arrest, according to a Senate staffer cited by the Drudge Report.

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