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U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, of North Carolina, was caught with a loaded gun at an airport last week, according to police.
The incident was reported after TSA agents at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport alerted police that a firearm had been found in a bag at one of their security screening checkpoints, officials with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) said.
Police identified the owner of the bag as the Republican congressman, who told officers the bag and gun were his.
Officers confiscated the firearm, which they said is normal procedure.
They identify the weapon as a loaded Ataccato 9 mm handgun.
Cawthorn, 26, was issued a citation for possession of a dangerous weapon on city property, which is a city of Charlotte ordinance, and then released, officials said.
“It is standard procedure for the CMPD Airport Division to cite in lieu of arrest for the misdemeanor charge … unless there are other associated felony charges or extenuating circumstances,” CMPD said in a statement.
Fines for such an offense can be up to $13,000, depending on the aggravating factors such as loaded firearms and multiple offenses, according to the TSA.
Cawthorn posted a lengthy video to Instagram explaining that “the establishment” was attacking him in an effort to prevent his re-election, as well as other freshman representatives in Congress. He called it a “coordinated drip campaign” that would deliberately drop attack articles to sink his campaign.
Cawthorn never directly addressed the gun incident at Charlotte Douglas.
“I do not make any apologies for making sure that we cultivate a following across all platforms trying to reach my generation,” Cawthorn said. “I make no apologies for making sure that we have a good platform to get the truth out about conservatism out to these people when they have been indoctrinated with these lies of socialism.”
Cawthorn was stopped back in February 2021 at the airport in Asheville, North Carolina, as he tried to get on a plane with a gun and loaded magazine in his carry-on bag.
