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Former congressman Madison Cawthorn pleads guilty to bringing loaded gun to airport

CHARLOTTE - Former U.S. congressman Madison Cawthorn has pleaded guilty to trying to bring a loaded gun through security at Charlotte's international airport last year.

Cawthorn, 27, a Republican from western North Carolina, pled guilty Friday in a Mecklenburg County District Court and was fined $250. He does not have to forfeit the gun.

The right-wing former U.S. House Representative appeared on a misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous weapon on city property, which can carry up to 20 days in jail.

Cawthorn's time in office from 2021 to 2023 was plagued by scandal, and his term ended four months ago.

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What did Cawthorn do at Charlotte Douglas International Airport?

Cawthorn was found with a loaded 9 mm handgun as he was trying to board a plane on April 26, 2022, police said. An outspoken gun-rights advocate, Cawthorn has frequently posted pictures and videos on social media of him shooting various firearms.

At the time, 26-year-old Cawthorn admitted to having the gun. He posted on Instagram, saying, "I made a mistake" and there was "no excuse." He encouraged others to take an extra minute to check to make sure they did not make the same mistake at the airport.

The April 2022 incident was the second time Cawthorn was found with a weapon while trying to board a plane. In 2021 he was stopped while boarding at Asheville Regional Airport with an unloaded gun. 

Airport police did not charge him in 2021. That year, there were at least eight other people found with guns boarding planes at Asheville's airport, but none were charged, according to airport authorities.

What do airport rules say about guns?

While the Asheville airport has its own police force, the Charlotte airport is owned by the city and overseen by municipal law enforcement agencies.

Transportation Security Administration rules say guns can be transported on planes unloaded in special cases or checked bags with hard sides. Cawthorn may have also faced TSA fines for the Asheville and Charlotte incidents and lost expedited boarding status, according to experts on TSA rules.

Cawthorn has track record of having weapons at public gatherings

Cawthorn has run afoul of other weapons prohibitions, bringing knives to educational facilities. Following a 2021 school board meeting in Henderson County, North Carolina, a sheriff warned Cawthorn about what those present said was a fixed-blade dagger under his wheelchair.

Cawthorn's loss in last year's Republican primary was followed by a list of problems and scandals that included speeding tickets and misdemeanor citation for driving with a revoked license, his reference to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a thug and his claim that he was invited by Republican officials to an orgy and where cocaine was used.

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