So you walk into the bathroom to do your business at a local retailer.  You take a moment to check yourself out in the mirror, straighten out your hair, check out the nostrils -- nothing hangin'.  You take off your coat, unbuckle, take your handgun from its holster and set it down, and then have a seat.

When the call of nature is taken care of you rise from the throne feeling a great sense of accomplishment, thinking how great it feels to finally unload that barrage from the Christmas Day buffet line.  That's on your mind first and foremost, secondly is the fact that you're standing within one of America's premiere retailers, LL Bean, and you can't wait to get back out on the shopping floor.

You pull up your drawers, tidy up, and leave the restroom, also leaving your fully loaded 9 mm Walther police pistol behind. Just imagine the possibilities.

Luckily it wasn't a 4-year-old child who found the gun. It was an employee who turned the gun over to the Ellsworth police.

Benjamin Newman, a 72-year-old doctor from Winter Harbor and employee of the Washington County Jail eventually noticed the missing hardware and called the store.  He was told the cops had it.  He called the Ellsworth police and was told to come get it, and his summons for reckless conduct, a Class D misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and and a $2,000 fine.

After using the restroom, forgetting to wash ones hands is one thing. Forgetting your handgun is a Robert Blake thing.

 

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