A question from an American about events in Ottawa

[mndemsocialist]

I was wondering, how did the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Commons come to have a gun?

I know that he is an ex-Mountie, but is the Sergeant at Arms normally armed, or does he keep a gun in his office?

Just curious...

[Grey]

1. Here is the CBC account....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-the-face-to-face-encounter-that-ended-the-attack-on-parliament-1.2812802

The gun is kept in a locked box in his office.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

2. I was a little surprised, I thought it was purely a ceremonial post.

Though, if he used the parliamentary mace to subdue (bludgeon) the shooter, now that would have been something.

[Spazito]

3. His main responsibility is the security of Parliament...

"That’s his job – to safeguard the House, and oversee security on Parliament. During Question Period, he sits by the main doors, monitoring the public galleries in the balconies above with television screens on his desk. His office is just about six metres down the hall from the Parliamentary Library, near where the gunman was said to have been killed yesterday."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/sergeant-at-arms-kevin-vickers-thrust-into-role-of-modern-day-hero/article21251215/