CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Former North Carolina U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn pleaded responsible Friday to a misdemeanor after his loaded gun used to be discovered remaining 12 months in his carry-on baggage at Charlotte Douglas Global Airport.
Mecklenburg County District Courtroom Pass judgement on Cecilia Oseguera ordered a $250 nice however allowed Cawthorn to stay the 9 mm handgun that Transportation Safety Management brokers seized at a checkpoint in April 2022, information shops reported.
Prosecutors had sought after Cawthorn to must relinquish the gun, however Oseguera stated she noticed not anything within the fee of ownership of a deadly weapon on town belongings that required him to offer it up.
“I’m more than happy and grateful that the pass judgement on gave a in point of fact transparent ruling that facets with the regulation,” Cawthorn advised newshounds after the listening to.
Cawthorn, a Republican who served one time period representing the eleventh Congressional District within the mountains, up to now admitted to having the gun on the airport and wrote on social media there used to be “no excuse” for his mistake.
Cawthorn additionally used to be discovered with an unloaded gun in 2021 whilst seeking to get on a aircraft at Asheville Regional Airport. Airport police confiscated the gun however allowed him to board.
Cawthorn, from Henderson County, gained election to Congress in 2020 at age 25 and turned into certainly one of former President Donald Trump’s most powerful supporters on Capitol Hill. He misplaced his 2022 GOP number one to Chuck Edwards, who went directly to win the overall elections.
Cawthorn advised newshounds Friday that he thinks he’ll go back to politics in the future however has no particular plans.
“I benefit from the place I’m in now,” stated Cawthorn, who now has a house in Florida. “The sector in point of fact is the oyster for the younger.”