Delaware State Senator Brian Pettyjohn was detained Thursday morning at Salisbury Regional Airport after TSA agents found a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag.
Pettyjohn was reportedly traveling to the Southern Regional Education Board conference in New Orleans, when the weapon, a 9mm Smith & Wesson, was discovered while passing through a TSA x-ray machine at the Maryland airport.
"It's just one of those things where I didn't check that one little flap, and there it was," said Pettyjohn, in a report at Delaware Online. "Sometimes mistakes happen, whether you're a legislator or not."
According to The Hill, he started "carrying a concealed weapon regularly" after Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana was shot at a baseball game practice session on June 14.
The Republican senator, who represents Delaware's Georgetown district, is licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Delaware but not in Maryland.
Pettyjohn was questioned by TSA and later released. Although TSA officers confiscated the weapon, the senator was not arrested and he was free to purchase a new flight.
He confirms that he was never placed in handcuffs and was questioned in an "unlocked" room.
Immediately following the incident, Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the TSA, remarked ""Individuals who bring firearms to the checkpoint are subject to possible criminal charges from local law enforcement and civil penalties from TSA of up to $12,000."
"Typically, a first offense for bringing a firearm to a checkpoint is $3,000."
[READMORE]READ MORE: TSA Agent Arrested After Stealing Cash from Carry-on Bag[/READMORE]
The senator has since been charged with "violating a prohibition against boarding or attempting to board an aircraft with any firearm or explosive, whether openly or concealed."
The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison as well as civil penalties.
Bruce Rogers, Pettyjohn's attorney, has called the charge "excessive."
"Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we'll try to find out what they're after here," he said, according to Delaware Online. "There is certainly nothing which rises to the level of a felony carrying a firearm to an airplane."
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