Webb Aide Arrested for Gun Possession

The Virginian Pilot and Washington Post's favorite Senator may want to explain why he was carrying a loaded gun in DC when doing so is a crime. Are Senators immune from gun laws?

Here's NR's take.

From Michelle Malkin:

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?

and..

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.