Sen. James Webb held a press conference today to discuss the curious incident involving his aide, a loaded pistol and two magazine clips.

Via Fox News:

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb said Tuesday he did not give aide Phillip Thompson the gun that led to his arrest in a Senate office building. Webb did not say whether it was his gun.

Webb said he has been in New Orleans since Friday and returned Monday night. He said that he couldn't talk about the case because of the legal proceedings and his desire not to prejudice the situation. But then he denied any role in the alleged felony.

Webb also had this cryptic response to whether he regularly walks around town armed:

"It's important for me, personally, and for a lot of people in the situation that I'm in, to be able to defend myself and my family," Webb said. "Since 9/11 for people who are in government I think in general there has been an agreement that it's a more dangerous time. Again, I'm not going to comment, again, with great specificity about how I defend myself, but I do feel that I have that right."

Curiouser and curiouser. Meanwhile, Thompson is facing felony charges.