Rep. Victoria Spaatz (R-Indiana) was indicted on weapons charges last week for carrying a handgun into Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
The incident happened on Friday, the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Spaatz’s office confirmed to The Hill on Monday.
The TSA did not release the passenger’s name, but said officers found a .380-caliber firearm during passenger security screening at Dulles Airport on Friday. The weapon found in the traveler’s carry-on baggage was unloaded, the TSA said.
Spartz’s office said he “accidentally” brought the empty gun in his suitcase. After receiving the subpoena, he went ahead with his planned trip to Europe to attend a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, the Indiana Republican’s office said.
“Last Friday, Rep. Spaatz accidentally brought an unloaded, unamended handgun into her suitcase while passing through security at Dulles Airport, unaware that it was in her suitcase pocket. After receiving her subpoena, Rep. Spaatz boarded an international flight to Europe for an OSCE Security Council meeting,” Rep. Spaatz’s office said.
Spaatz, who was first elected in 2020 to represent Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, beat out a conservative primary candidate to win the Republican nomination for reelection in May.
The congressman announced his intention to retire at the end of his current term in February, declining to run again for Congress or for the vacant Senate seat, saying in a statement that he “needs to spend more time with my two high school-aged daughters back home.”
But in February of the following year, she reversed course and announced she would run for reelection. Spaatz is the first Ukrainian-born member of parliament.
The TSA announced in January that it had seized 6,737 firearms in 2023, the highest number of firearms ever recorded. The previous year, 6,542 firearms were seized at TSA checkpoints.
