Photograph: Erin Siegal/ReutersPhotograph: Erin Siegal/ReutersRepublican congressman Madison Cawthorn is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge after police at an airport in his home state said they found a gun in his bag Tuesday.
Police at Charlotte Douglas international airport handed Cawthorn, 26, a municipal citation accusing him of possessing a dangerous weapon on city property, officers said inPolice didn’t arrest Cawthorn, instead essentially issuing him a ticket summoning him to return to court at a later date to answer to the weapon charge. They also confiscated the gun.
Cawthorn, whom police described as “cooperative” with officers, didn’t immediately comment on his encounter with officers at the airport Tuesday. According to police, officers at the airport’s security screening checkpoint spotted a gun in a bag belonging to Cawthorn. The congressman was nearby and admitted that the gun was his.
A municipal law in Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, prohibits people from possessing guns on airport and other property owned by the city government. Anyone convicted of the misdemeanor could get up to 120 days in jail and be fined by both the city government as well as the federal Transportation Security Administration.