Wednesday, March 11, 2009

US Capitol Police arrest man for having guns in DC

So yesterday, I was walking down the street in Washington DC, minding my own business, when I saw a vehicle at the intersection of 3rd and Penn NW cordoned off with crime scene tape and surrounded by Capitol Police officers and a few news crews. Being me, I walked up and dipped in to find out that the police had just arrested the driver for having weapons in the vehicle.

Possession of any firearm or ammunition for one is still illegal in DC, with the exception of those few which are registered to residents.

So I took a few pictures and waited to see what the news would say this morning.

According to WTOP:
WASHINGTON - U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a man after searching his vehicle near the U.S. Capitol.

Capitol Police say 49-year-old Timothy Whitfield of Long Beach, California had two long rifles, three handguns and a sword in his sport utility vehicle that was stopped after 3 p.m. Tuesday at 3rd street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Whitfield was interviewed by police and then arrested.

The charges include carrying a pistol without a license, possession of unregistered ammunition, and possession of an unregistered firearm. The charges are still pending.

Schneider says the vehicle has been cleared and police found no hazardous items. Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st and 4th streets has reopened.


So here are my pics. (Click on them to make them larger.) Note the fact that the police have every single item out of the car, each set up with a little number placard.




















I love the US Capitol Police--I really do--but guys, any other police department would have just taken the car somewhere to do that instead of doing it right out in the middle of the street. And was the crime scene tape and number placards really necessary? It's just an inventory search, guys. I know that you're bored and want to play with all the police stuff that Congress gave you the money for, but come on...

8 comments:

  1. You were in DC yesterday? Next time you're down here, let us over at The Sniper know. We'd love to meet you and buy you a beer!

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  2. Well that would be my pleasure. I had no idea you were local...shame on me.

    And if you ever decide to come sixty miles west of so, Lagniappe and I will buy the first round.
    Well ok...I'll buy it. Lagniappe doesn't have any money.

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  3. Yup, we all live in the NoVa area. Well, 2 of us probably live a little closer to you than they do DC, but the rest of us are city folk.

    And if you come through our way, our fearless leader is not so hot about checking the blog email. You'd be better off going to my profile page and clicking on "email" and I'll round up the troops.

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  4. In defense of the Capitol Police (some of whom I'm quite fond as they do an excellent job providing security for my boss and they're great to have beers with), there have been a handful of recent incidents where it could not be determined what kinds of materials a kook had in his truck so rather than it blowing up, they dismantled it on-site.

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  5. Anonymous11:00 PM

    I agree with The Dog. Better to have it blow up in an empty parking lot than on a busy street--if you do get a legitimate cuckoo.

    Can't help but wonder if this stop was just some innocent guy on the way to the Range who got caught in the sticky web of DC "gun control."

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  6. Huh. I recognised one of those officers. She used to work for our department til last year when she transferred out there. Small world.....

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  7. Anonymous1:38 AM

    so it is still illegal in D.C. to be a free citizen exercising your constitutional rights?

    And you didn't arrest the criminal gang?

    Sorry, I ain't got enough love in me to put up with that crap.

    Of course, I'm not a member of the blue suit gang,either.

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  8. Sorry fella, but the practical reality is that "no guns" IS the law in DC right now and it doesn't matter if you or I or anyone else agrees with it or not--it's the current law and everyone knows it. So people who show up there with guns don't get a lot of sympathy from me--they're kind of like the ones who see a truck about to run a red light and decide to walk out in front of it anyway simply because they have a green light. It never ends well, and neither does deliberately breaking laws that you may not agree with but which are in effect nonetheless.

    That aside, I have also laid out my other reasons for supporting this guy's arrest in the following post...the one with the pictures of the grave markers. When nuts drive clear across the country to show up at the US Capitol armed for battle, it's seldom a case of a "free citizen exercising their rights" any more.

    But hey--if you feel that strongly, I encourage you to strap your pistols on, drive to DC, and walk up to the Capitol or the White House with them in plain view. You're a "free citizen" aren't you? Here's your chance to fight the good fight for gun rights and be that guy who gets the issue into court and wins a victory for everyone. I'll even meet you there to take pictures.

    So when do you want to do this?

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