The embattled Marion County judge who directed a string of obscenities at his colleagues while intoxicated during an after-hours social event in April kept a loaded and unsecured handgun in his chambers, public records show.
On April 30, three days after Circuit Judge Channing Bennett’s explosive tirade, the Marion County trial court administrator notified the Oregon Judicial Department Marshal’s Office that “there was an unsecured firearm” attached to the underside of Bennett’s desk, according to documents obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive in response to a public records request.
Circuit Judge Tom Hart retrieved the gun and “rendered it safe,” according to log notes provided by the judicial department. The gun was then stored in the marshal’s safe and Bennett picked it up on May 4, the document states…