GOP Rep Charged After Gun Found in Her Bag at D.C. Airport
Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana was hit with a weapons violation after security found a handgun in her bag.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty
A Republican congresswoman found herself in hot water at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Friday when staff found a handgun in her bag while she went through a security screening. According to WishTv, U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) was hit with a weapons violation Friday after the .380 caliber firearm was discovered in her luggage. In response to the incident, Spartz’s office issued a statement reading: “Last Friday, Rep. Spartz accidentally carried an empty handgun in her suitcase with no magazine or bullets, which she did not realize was in the pocket of her suitcase, while going through security at Dulles airport. Rep. Spartz was issued a citation and proceeded on her international flight to the OSCE PA meeting in Europe,” a reference to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Spartz is not the only member of Congress to be charged with similar crimes in recent years. In 2022, then-Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) was caught with a loaded firearm at a North Carolina airport.
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