Scotty McCreery Cited for Accidentally Taking Loaded Gun Into Airport
"I have learned a lesson that I won’t forget," the singer says.
Scotty McCreery has issued an apology after he accidentally took a loaded handgun into an airport.
According to PEOPLE, the “Five More Minutes” singer tried to carry a loaded gun through security at North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport on July 13. He reportedly forgot to remove it from his backpack after visiting a shooting range. Also in his backpack was two boxes of ammo, containing 63 bullets.
Although the 23-year-old has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, he received a misdemeanor citation for trying to carry it through airport security and onto an airplane.
“I have been a concealed carry permit holder for awhile 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,” McCreery told PEOPLE in a statement.
“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 rightly confiscated it,” he continued. “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.”
McCreery was robbed at gunpoint in 2014 at an off-campus apartment near Raleigh’s North Carolina State University. Three armed suspects entered the apartment and forced the singer and his friends to turn over cash, wallets, and electronics.
Last summer, Mikkail Shaw pleaded guilty to charges arising from the 2014 robbery and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
McCreery recently released a new single, “Five More Mintues,” to country radio and is playing fairs and festivals around the country throughout the summer.
