The point of the pointer

Some people prefer a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman as a multitool. Via Hot Air, we've learned that others take a different approach:

Jerome M. Hauer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's director of homeland security, took out his handgun and used the laser sighting device attached to the barrel as a pointer in a presentation to a foreign delegation, according to public officials. It happened Oct. 24 in Albany at the highly secure state emergency operations center below State Police headquarters.

These officials, one of whom claimed to be an eyewitness, said that three Swedish emergency managers in the delegation were rattled when the gun's laser tracked across one of their heads before Hauer found the map of New York, at which he wanted to point.

Hauer, commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, was disabled by a stroke a few years ago and can be unsteady. He isn't a law enforcement official. He carries the loaded 9-millimeter Glock in a holster into state buildings, an apparent violation of state law barring state employees from bringing weapons to the workplace, several witnesses say.

That last part about the state law violation might be a bit of a problem, right? Not so much:

On Wednesday, the Times Union learned that Hauer had received a waiver allowing him to carry a handgun to work. The waiver was issued only four days after they ran the story about Hauer using the laser sight as a pointer.

“Despite the lack of a waiver before January, several witnesses said he has been carrying a gun on the job since Cuomo appointed him in 2011,” the Times Union reported.

As it happens, Hauer disputes the story:

In an email to TheDC early Thursday evening, Jerome Hauer personally disputed the Times Union’s story, insisting that only an administrative rule prevents state employees from carrying guns to work, and that he has been granted a waiver. He also says he’s never owned a 9-millimeter Glock.

“The [Times Union] reporter involved has made libelous statements in his articles,” Hauer said.

Of course, this begs a question -- if he doesn't own a Glock, why would he need a waiver? The question that isn't begged is this -- would someone who isn't working for Gov. Cuomo get a waiver that quickly?

The drumbeat is out there and it's getting louder. People are starting to understand that we're in a place where the law is now so arbitrary that it's very easy to run afoul of it if you are an everyday Joe or Janey, but that you can get by with things if you are an agent of the state, or someone who enables it. It's one thing if Jerome Hauer carries a gun or is "unsteady." It's quite another if law enforcement is unsteady.