Rep. Madison Cawthorn tried to board plane with gun; could face fine, status loss (tweet free versio

[marble falls]

Rep. Madison Cawthorn tried to board plane with gun; could face fine, status loss
Joel Burgess

Asheville Citizen Times

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/07/30/asheville-airport-police-tsa-take-cawthorns-gun-likely-fined/5438592001/

ASHEVILLE - -snip-


Cawthorn, whose spokesman responded to questions July 30 saying he brought the gun by mistake, was not charged with any crime, according to reports and other information on the incident obtained this month through a public records request. That is a normal outcome, said spokeswoman Tina Kinsey.

-snip-

In the recordings, an officer can be heard repeating several times to another officer that there was an elected official found with a gun.

-snip-

"In New York they perp walk you out of the airport in handcuffs," Howell said. "In Georgia, you can open carry anywhere. It's different everywhere."

Bringing criminal charges is left to local law enforcement. At Charlotte Douglas International Airport city police normally charge people with guns under a city ordinance that makes having a firearm at a checkpoint a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail, said Charlotte attorney Brad Smith, who defends people accused of bringing guns to the airport.



Why isn't he in jail. Shouldn't those who write the laws be held to a higher standard??

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

1. The fact that he wasn't arrested and jailed is outrageous!

I'm not just saying that because he's a piece garbage as a human being. That's a given. Back in the day when I was a wide-eyed young prosecutor, my first assignment was to arraignment court where every arrest from the day before was vetted for any number of reasons.... bail decisions, the opportunity to plead out minor stuff (particularly at the time minor drug offenses) quickly, dismissals, and what went to the grand jury (as well as who needed to stay in jail). People's Express was the budget airline of the time-headquartered in Newark, which was in our jurisdiction. They were a real no-frills carrier where you didn't check your bags and brought your own food on the plane-which was worth it for a $29.00 ticket to Ft. Lauderdale. People used to transfer from other airlines and would have to put their luggage on the x-ray conveyor before boarding a People's Express flight. Every day, some poor slob who had put a gun in their checked baggage on another airline got caught when they transferred to a People's Express connecting flight-usually more than one a day. They all got arrested. They all had to post bail. For the most part, unless they had a prior record, they all got pre-trial intervention and a second chance but....they all got arrested and hassled and had to forfeit their weapons. (which was particularly galling to the Texans who got arrested-Houston was one of the big People's Express hubs and for a while there was a Texan a day coming through the arraignment court-including the mayor of Lubbock)