Native prosecutors dropped a weapons cost in opposition to Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) for bringing a firearm to Dulles Worldwide Airport over the summer season, courtroom information present.
Spartz was scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor cost on Friday, however the case docket was up to date to enter a nolle prosequi, a authorized time period that interprets to “not to wish to prosecute.”
In an announcement, the congresswoman’s workplace stated she accomplished a gun security coaching after the incident.
“It’s an automatic charge under Virginia law regardless of the circumstance, but since it was an innocent mistake, it was dismissed by the prosecutor after the Congresswoman completed a gun safety course,” the assertion learn.
The Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Legal professional’s Workplace didn’t return requests for remark.
The Transportation Safety Company (TSA) had stated it detected an unloaded .380 caliber firearm in Spartz’s carry-on bag whereas she was being screened on June 28 at Dulles Airport, which is situated within the Virginia suburbs of the nation’s capital.
On the time, Spartz’s workplace confirmed the incident and described it as an accident, noting that she nonetheless went on to journey to Europe for her scheduled assembly after being issued a quotation.
She was charged with carrying a weapon in an airport terminal, a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia that would’ve carried a sentence of as much as one yr in jail and a $2,500 nice.
Spartz, who was first elected in 2020, represents Indiana’s fifth Congressional district.
The TSA found 3,269 firearms through the first half of this calendar yr, which is roughly even with the identical interval a yr prior at the same time as passenger totals elevated, in accordance with the company’s information.
