Republican Senator Arrested for Possessing Gun TSA Didn't Find

Senator Jeff Wilson (R – Washington) is currently barred from leaving Hong Kong after he was found and arrested with possessing a firearm without a license at Hong Kong International Airport. He was charged with one count of possession of firearms without a license.

Wilson, 63, who represents the state’s 19th legislative district, appeared at Shatin Magistrates’ Courts on Monday after his arrest on Saturday. According to local media, he was released on a cash bail of HK$20,000 ($2556.74 USD) and ordered to hand over his travel documents and not to leave Hong Kong.

Wilson was on a 5-week personal vacation trip at his own expense (he’s also scheduled to visit Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia). He allegedly discovered the firearm, a pistol, in his carry-on luggage while on his flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. He said he found the weapon mid-flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong, when he reached into his briefcase for a piece of gum, and felt his unloaded revolver inside. He continued that he reported the gun to customs officials upon landing.

However, regardless of telling officials or not, carrying a gun without a license in Hong Kong is punishable by up to 14 years in jail and a fine of HK$100,000 ($12,783.27 USD).

Wilson says he has a concealed pistol license in Washington. The gun is legally licensed in Washington State, but not in Hong Kong.

Wilson says the possession was “an honest mistake.” However he blames the TSA in Portland (he had flown from Portland to San Francisco before continuing on to Hong Kong) for not finding the firearm.

“I should have never been out of security in America,” Wilson said. The statement later added that “baggage screeners failed to note” the pistol in his briefcase while going through security in Portland.

So he’s the one who left a gun in his bag but this is all TSA’s fault because they didn’t find it? Got it. Not that TSA missing the gun was right, either. But maybe if he didn’t have a gun in his bag in the first place, THAT would have been the best thing?

Anyway, the Transportation Security Administration released a statement on Tuesday to OPB acknowledging a lapse in security.

“TSA is aware that a passenger on a flight departing from (PDX)… passed through security and traveled with an unloaded firearm in his carry-on bag,” a TSA spokesperson said. “TSA takes this situation very seriously and is currently investigating the circumstances.”

Gun possession set aside, Sing Tao Daily also reported that Wilson and his group got into an altercation with reporters who took photos of him as he was leaving the courthouse. Police had to be called, with Wilson’s group demanding reporters delete the photos because Wilson hadn’t consented to being photographed.

Sing Tao Daily also said that police arrived on the scene to mediate, as Wilson and his wife threatened to photograph the reporters in retaliation.

Wilson disputes that he argued with reporters after leaving the courthouse.

Wilson is scheduled to appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts next Monday, Oct. 30th (cases heard at magistrates courts see a maximum jail term of two years for a single offense). He says he hopes the legal matter will conclude within a week.

“I’m going to remain in Hong Kong. I’m quite happy and healthy,” Wilson told Oregon Public Broadcasting Monday.

Feature Image: Hong Kong Airport

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