Washington, DC (WLTX) – U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a Camden buisnessman after they say he tried to take a gun into an office building on the Capitol grounds.
Ronald William Prestage, 59, is charged with carrying a pistol without a license. Officers say they recovered the 9 mm handgun from him as he tried to enter the Cannon House Building, which is one of the structures containing the offices of members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Police haven’t said yet if he gave an explanation for why he had the weapon…
Actually, my headline is kind of misleading. I doubt many of my regulars, even the most ardent gun-lovers among us, will want to assert the right to enter the U.S. Capitol offices while packing heat.
Am I right? If not, have at it…
By the way, if you read the rest of the piece (I quoted as much as I thought I could get away with under Fair Use), you’ll find that this Mr. Prestage is an upstanding member of the community, the manager of the Kershaw County Airport (which you would think would make him a little more sensitive about where it’s a good idea to carry a gun, and where it isn’t). No rootless drifter/gunslinger is he.
He’s also president of the National Pork Producers Council. Yeah, I thought that was an unusual combination, too, but that’s what the story said…
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I’ll bite: The SCOTUS opinion in DC v. Heller says: “nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings” and that’s pretty clear.
Maybe Mr. Prestage just forgot he was carrying.
And you’re OK with that. I hope…
Honestly, I can see the practical reasons to restrict people’s right to carry in a government building. However, as someone who works in such a facility – where my right to carry is restricted – I don’t think it is neccessary to disarm people who are law-abiding and in the process of interacting with their government.
Fort Hood (multiple times), Washington Navy Yard, Norfolk, CIA HQ, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Campbell, Quantico, the list goes on and on. You have mass shootings at locations where people are expected to be disarmed. Here’s a good article documenting some incidents by the right wingers over at NBC News: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/A-History-of-Shootings-at-Military-Installations-in-the-US-223933651.html
You shouldn’t have to check any rights at the door to exercise your civic duties or go to work. Also, why should politicians, judges, etc. be offered a higher or lower level of security than anyone else is entitled to? (In the absence of a specific threat).
Meanwhile, ads about concealed carry and related matters have suddenly cropped up on my blog…
You can’t carry into a government building. Heck, I wouldn’t bring a firearm (or ammo) into DC limits.
Rules are rules. His intent doesn’t matter.
Yup, as someone who had to stop carrying her Swiss Army penknife into courthouses…..because a two inch blade is so dangerous…..they revised the limits up to four inches, at least in RichCo
So is carrying into a restricted federal facility now a strict liability crime? I would hope that the prosecution would be required to prove intent.
Always was a strict liability crime. Malum prohibitum crimes, regulatory sorts, not your old-fashioned malum in se crimes like robbery and murder, do not require bad intent.
(filling for Big Daddy Caskey as legal wonk)
Vielen Dank
I have my CWP.
Visiting DC last December, I left it at home.
Even though we had to get on the metro in DC, I told my wife to leave her mace in our hotel room.
If we had been robbed, or assaulted on the street, we would either have to run – or just sit and take it.
But I knew we better not be caught with a gun, or mace, or really anything more than chewing gum and makeup.
and of course as people that obey the law- we complied. We were at the mercy of a lot of folks that don’t care about obeying the law at all – but that’s the way it goes.
It’s always the other folks who are dangerous with firearms. Those among us who qualify for permits to carry them around for whatever reason are never susceptible to clouded judgement, rage, or overreaction. I don’t understand a ban on carrying pepperspray since the result of a mistaken discharge isn’t often so permanent and incurs legal liability. I applaud your penchant for following the law.
I get upset and overreact fairly often while driving, I’ve yet to run someone else off the road or get involved in a road rage incident. In fact, I have an impressive driving record.
My CWP training didn’t include anger management
Of course if I was that emotional, and prone to rage, not having my pistol on me 100% of the time wouldn’t stop me from inflicting harm.
I wish everyone had your judgement and restraint. The dangers of lots of folks going around packing is compounded by self-defense laws that include “felt threatened” and other hedges against responsibility for aggression or over-reaction – at a deadly level. In a society that glorifies violence to a frightening level, reliance on individuals armed with profoundly deadly weapons to be reasonable in applying their perception of justice or proper protection in crowded, isolated (no witnesses) or even domestic situations is a further slide into a culture of death.
I don’t disagree with you.
I have my CWP – and practice often.
However, I rarely carry my pistol on me – and only carry it in my car about 50% of the time (i travel extensively in South Carolina on business).
However, statistics say that CWP holders are rather impressive at following the law- compared to the general population.
It’s not really the CWP holders that worry me- it’s the people that don’t care about any law that worry me.
Isn’t ever so permanent. Has anyone died from pepper spray or been maimed?
Agreed. I was just trying to be a little facetious.
Speaking of firearms in D.C….
My uncle from Bennettsville likes to go hunting up on the Cheseapeake Bay. Ducks, I think. Maybe geese.
Anyway, one of his friends was on the way back from one of these trips, and decided to swing by the Capitol on his way through D.C. to visit a friend or relative who worked there.
When he tried to pull his pickup close to the Capitol to pick up the person he was visiting, with the full gun rack clearly visible, the Capitol police sort of freaked out… I forget the rest of the story…
and – and as we toured the capitol and entered into the House chamber, i had to leave my car key with a guard.
I say “key” because before the trip I had removed all keys from my keychain except the 1 that turns my car on.
But even that key- a key that I seriously doubt could cut through a piece of wet paper – had to be left with a security guard
thestate.com has a more complete story on Mr. Prestage’s arrest. It further attests that he is a prominent citizen (as anyone whose name is almost “Prestige” must be):
There you have it! I ask you — could anyone who has contributed to The State’s op-ed page, that bastion of reason, be a danger to that community? Perish the thought.
I do get a bit confused, though, when I read what I take to be his bio at the Prestage Farms site:
No mention on that page of SC. Is this the right Bill Prestage? Could this be the father, and the one arrested a son. In the picture, he looks older than 59.
And if that’s him, are they sure he’s from SC?
Brad,
I think your field craft is getting a little bit rusty.
Why? Am I looking at the wrong page?
Ah, now I see the man who was arrested, and I guessed right — this is another member of the Prestage clan…