The former governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour was arrested at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport in early January.
While trying to go through security at the airport, the TSA noticed a .38 caliber revolver loaded with 5 bullets in his carry-on bag.
Barbour says that he forgot he had the gun on him. The gun was taken out of his cars days earlier by an assistant and he had then put it in his briefcase.
The former governor and Republican National Committee chairman took full blame for the situation. Haley Barbour told the AP, “This was absentmindedness and nobody’s fault but mine.”
Barbour was on the way to Washington, DC for his current job as a lobbyist.
Although he was not handcuffed nor was a mugshot taken, Barbour “did not dispute” a TSA spokeswoman’s use of the word arrest.
After the gun was confiscated, he was able to board the plane for his flight.
Barbour said that he would pay a fine for carrying a loaded gun in the airport. (FYI- fines for having a loaded firearm at an airport checkpoint start at $3,920.)
Find out more from the AP here.
DaninMCI- I don’t judge those who carry a gun legally. It’s your right… Your idea for a locker facility is an interesting one. However, if it’s easy to forget a gun is in a bag, I’m not sure if this would help that problem.
We see this all the time. People who don’t own guns or conceal carry guns for personal protection have no idea how easy this is to do. For example I travel weekly for business. About 60% by car and 40% by plane. I have gotten to the point where I don’t keep my concealed carry firearm in my luggage for car travel because I’m afraid I’ll forget to take it out and run to the airport with it in my bag. I really wish that airports had a secure locker storage facility for those with concealed carry firearms. I’m sure a bunch of folks will say how wrong I am or judge gun owners but there is a lot of crime in the world and carrying a firearm is a fact of life for many people.