Scotty McCreery Cited After Carrying Loaded 9mm Handgun Into Airport

scotty-mccreery

Country music artist and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery is in legal hot water after being caught carrying a loaded gun through airport security. The incident happened on Thursday, July 13th, but was made public on Friday (7-21). It occurred at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina as McCreery was looking to board a flight.

As McCreery was making his way through airport security, a TSA X-ray revealed a black 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun with five loaded bullets in McCreery’s backpack. He also had two boxes of ammo that contained a total of 63 bullets. McCreery told police that he had gone to the shooting range earlier in the day and had forgotten to remove the gun and ammo before arriving at the airport. He was cited for a misdemeanor CCW violation for carrying the gun into the airport. A court date is pending. Scotty McCreery does have a concealed weapons license.

One of the reasons McCreery may be inclined to carry a firearm is he was robbed at gunpoint in 2014 when Mikkail Jamal Shaw and two other men entered an apartment in Raleigh with a pistol and assault rifle. Three of McCreery’s friends were also in the home at the time of the incident. The men made off with wallets, about $800 in cash, cellphones and a laptop computer. Mikkail Jamal Shaw was convicted of kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, burglary, and conspiracy to commit robbery in 2016, and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

McCreery told Billboard Friday evening, “I have been a concealed carry permit holder for a while now after being robbed at gunpoint in 2014, and I take gun safety very seriously. While in between tour dates last week, I went to go target shooting with a friend a few days before an early flight out of my hometown Raleigh-Durham airport. Unfortunately, I did not realize that I left my pistol in my backpack until the TSA found it during the security X-ray screening and rightfully confiscated it. I had my concealed carry permit on me so once they had checked everything out, they then released me to catch the next available flight. Great to know our airport security force is on the job. I have learned a lesson that I won’t forget.”

He is scheduled to perform in Biloxi, MS at the Beau Rivage Resort on Friday evening, and is currently promoting his latest single, “Five More Minutes.”

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