Webb Admits Handgun in Capitol Arrest Was His

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Sen. Jim Webb finally admitted he owns a gun that an aide was arrested for carrying into the U.S. Capitol complex in March.

Webb previously had refused to say whether the gun was his, although his senior aide — Phillip Thompson — had told police the weapon belonged to the Democratic senator.

“It’s my gun,” Webb told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a recent interview. But how and why it was in Thompson’s possession remains unclear. Webb said he didn’t give the gun to Thompson, “nor did I ask him to do anything with it.”

Thompson was arrested on an illegal handgun charge when he carried the loaded pistol and two loaded magazines in a briefcase into the Russell Senate Office Building. A federal prosecutor later dropped the charge.

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