News

Delaware senator charged for carrying gun into airport

by Josh Delk - 06/23/17 5:57 PM ET

Delaware State Senator Brian Pettyjohn faces a felony charge for accidentally carrying a weapon into an airport on Thursday morning, Delaware State News reports.

Pettyjohn was detained in the Salisbury Regional Airport Thursday morning when Transportation Security Administration agents found a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag. The senator said that he accidentally left the firearm in his laptop case.

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He was travelling to the Southern Regional Education Board conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office announced the felony charges on Friday, which carry the potential of a 10-year jail sentence. Pettyjohn was questioned by the Sherriff’s office at the airport, and was later released without arrest.

Pettyjohn told the paper in a statement Thursday that he had been “carrying a concealed weapon regularly” after the shooting of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) at a congressional baseball game practice in Alexandria, Virginia on June 14. The shooting raised security concerns among a number of lawmakers, some of whom responded by proposing gun legislation allowing them to concealed carry in the District of Columbia.

Tags Brian Pettyjohn Concealed carry Concealed carry in the United States Gun politics in the United States Open carry in the United States Pettyjohn