NY Judge Rapped for Approving His Own Concealed Carry Permit, Accidental Gun Discharge in Chambers
A New York judge who has been threatened several times during his nearly 20 years on the bench decided he wanted to get a concealed-carry permit and take a loaded firearm into the Tioga County courthouse at which he worked.
However, although there was no rule against having a gun in chambers, Judge Vincent Sgueglia should not have approved his own concealed-carry permit, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct said in an opinion (PDF) earlier this month.
It censured the judge—who admitted, on reflection, that he should have handled the matter differently—for doing so, as well as for an accidental discharge of a revolver in chambers in 2010, as Sgueglia was trying to repair a faulty mechanism that cocked the .38-caliber Smith and Wesson and rotated the cylinder.
The judge, who is now 70, stopped bringing a loaded gun into the courthouse after the accidental discharge incident. He plans to retire at the end of 2012.
Hat tip: Legal Profession Blog.
