My Congressman got busted..

[glocksman]

for having a gun in his briefcase while trying to board a plane.

Story

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana was briefly detained Tuesday when airport security workers found a handgun in his briefcase as he was going through a checkpoint on a trip back to Washington.

The five-term Republican congressman was preparing to board a US Airways flight at Louisville International Airport when the gun was found, said his press secretary Michael Jahr.

"Apparently the congressman had left a handgun in his briefcase and forgot it was in there and took it to the security checkpoint, where it was detected and they detained him briefly to make sure he had no ill intent as they should do," Jahr said.

Jahr said Hostettler is an avid sportsman and has a permit for the weapon, but he was not sure what type of handgun the congressman had and whether it was loaded.

Hostettler has represented his district in southwestern Indiana since 1995 and is seeking re-election this year to a sixth term

Heh.

 

[gunsmith]

It's ok for our esteemed rulers

to carry where ever they wan't.

Don't you try it though

 

[glocksman]

Here's more from the local paper.

An Indiana congressman will face a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed deadly weapon after being detained Tuesday morning by security screeners at the Louisville (Ky.) International Airport.

Rep. John Hostettler, an 8th District Republican, will appear at the U.S. District Court at the Jefferson County Hall of Justice on May 4 on the charges and could face a maximum year in jail and up to a $500 fine. He had not retained a lawyer as of Tuesday night and said he was not sure how he would plead.


Hostettler was returning to Washington via a US Airways flight after a two-week congressional recess when security screeners spotted a loaded handgun in his satchel at an airport security checkpoint. Hostettler was stopped and questioned first by screeners, then by local police, then by the FBI. Hostettler said he put the handgun in his satchel two weeks earlier. He said he uses it for personal protection as he travels the district. When he returned home, he set the satchel aside for the rest of the recess. He said he regrets not double-checking the bag before he brought it with him, calling it a "stupid mistake."

He said he has carried a handgun for personal protection when he travels far from home in the 8th Congressional District almost the entire time he has served in Congress. But he said he doesn't necessarily carry the gun just because he is a member of Congress.

"In my opinion, you can't be too careful," he said. "... I prefer not to be a victim of a violent crime." Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the federal Transportation Security Administration, said screeners detained a passenger at 10:45 a.m. as he tried to pass through the security checkpoint at the airport. Transportation Security Administration screeners detected a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in a carry-on bag.

Davis said she was barred from naming the detained passenger, citing privacy reasons.

Hostettler was detained for more than an hour before being released, and said he does not believe he got special treatment because he is a member of Congress. Authorities discovered he was a member of Congress when they asked for identification. He was not permitted to open the satchel that carried the gun and his driver's license, he said, so he had to show them his congressional voting card. "The argument could be made that they could've overlooked the whole thing when they found out I was a congressman," he said. "That didn't happen and shouldn't have happened and these law enforcement people did the right thing."

Authorities kept the handgun, a Glock model 19. The gun, which does not have a lock but which had an engaged safety, had 14 rounds in the magazine but none in the chamber.

Hostettler has a "conceal and carry" license from the state of Indiana, and estimates he owns more than a dozen guns, including rifles, shotguns and handguns. Kentucky recognizes Indiana gun licenses, and vice versa. Hostettler, now serving his fifth congressional term, has been an outspoken supporter of gun rights, and was a leading supporter of legislation that would allow airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit.

He is a member of the National Rifle Association and has denounced gun-control initiatives of the Clinton administration. Hostettler said the FBI and U.S. attorney's office are contemplating "what action needs to be taken." He said he is not sure how he will plead in the case because the statue says handguns are prohibited within a restricted area, and Hostettler never actually brought the gun to the restricted area. "The system worked," he said.

Hostettler praised authorities for their politeness and professionalism.

"They had their job to do," he said. "And they did it very well."

Apparently he didn't try and bluster his way out of it.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

where it was detected and they detained him briefly to make sure he had no ill intent as they should do

Yeahhhhhh. I saw this article. They detained him briefly? How does that work? With all the stories of people getting detained and questioned and hassled for sewing scissors and Swiss Army knives how come a loaded gun only requires a brief determination of lack of ill intent? This doesn't smell right. Thoughts anyone?


EDIT: Oops. Thanks guys.

 

[TaurusCIA]

Duplicate thread...

 

[Don Gwinn]

Y'know, he's got nobody but himself to blame. If he'd sprung for one of those all-plastic undetectable Glocks . . . . . .

 

[glocksman]

Well, he *is* a Congressman, and members of Congress don't have a rep for hijacking planes. Also, 'briefly' turns out to be for an hour or so, not 5 or 10 minutes.


Since he *is* being charged, I can't say that he's getting off scot free.

 

[foghornl]

Hmmm...........

Maybe a good opportunity to press your Rep about how stooopid some of those laws are...and how ineffective the TSA REALLY is ? ? ? ? ?

 

[DigMe]

Authorities kept the handgun, a Glock model 19. The gun, ....which had an engaged safety,

Can you put aftermarket safeties on Glocks or is this just another ignorant journalist?

brad cook

 

[anapex]

Authorities kept the handgun, a Glock model 19. The gun, which does not have a lock but which had an engaged safety, ...

So he had a modified Glock or they were trying to explain the 3 internal safeties and just did it poorly? Lovely fact checking at its best.

 

[HankB]

The gun, which does not have a lock but which had an engaged safety,

With a Glock, if nobody is pressing the trigger, the safety IS engaged.

Automatically.

(When someone asks why I carry "a gun with no safety" I just explain that it has THREE safeties, which function automatically.)

 

[DRC]

This happened to a friend but with an entirely different outcome.

"Apparently the congressman had left a handgun in his briefcase and forgot it was in there and took it to the security checkpoint, where it was detected and they detained him briefly to make sure he had no ill intent as they should do," Jahr said."

Had a friend that was heading out to visit his parents. He had gotten off work late and was running close to missing his flight so when he went home to pack his stuff he grabbed the bags he was taking stuffed his clothes in them and headed out the door. What he had forgotten was that he had used one of these bags when he went to the gun range and had left an unloaded pistol in one (which happened to be his carry-on). He checked his bags and tossed his carry-on on the conveyer belt. You can figure out what happened after that I'm sure.

Needless to say he didn't make it to his destination, the gun was confiscated, he had to go to court and this goes on his record. Isn't it amazing how there are different rules for different people?

Take care,

DRC

 

[burbanite]

As this guy is one of the few that actually advocate rather than "support" gun rights, I'm hoping is still around to help the cause. Won't do me any good for him to be in the pokey while the anti's run rampant......maybe it's all a conspiracy....