Former Governor and RNC Chairman Arrested With Loaded Gun at Airport

Haley Barbour — former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Governor of Mississippi, and lobbyist at Barbour Griffith & Rogers — was arrested earlier this month at the Jackson, Mississippi airport with a loaded .38-caliber hand gun in his brief case.

He says “he forgot he was carrying the gun, which he had put in his briefcase after an assistant removed it from his car days earlier.”


Here’s Where Barbour Was Caught

Since he was reportedly booked on a flight to Washington DC that would have been AA5120 operated by PSA with a CRJ-200 as it’s the only non-stop to the region’s three airports. The most striking thing about the incident is that his gun was confiscated, he was arrested, and he made his flight.

Yet Barbour claims he was treated “like anybody else,” and he promises to “be more observant about getting stuff out of [his] briefcase” in the future.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. We see this all the time. People who don’t own guns or don’t conceal carry guns for personal protection have no idea how easy this is to do. I travel weekly for business. About 60% by car and 40% by plane. I have gotten to the point where I don’t keep my concealed carry firearm in my luggage for car travel because I’m afraid I’ll forget to take it out and run to the airport with it in my bag. I really wish that airports had a secure locker storage facility for those with concealed carry firearms. I’m sure a bunch of folks will say how wrong I am or judge gun owners but there is a lot of crime in the world and carrying a firearm is a fact of life for many people.

  2. If this was me or you Gary, we would have been in jail over night. And definitely missed our flights. Mississippi, the most bigoted and corrupt state in the union. Although there are a few more states, that are just as close, to bottom of the barrel.

  3. No, America doesn’t have a gun problem. Every other person in the world might forget they have a day old sandwich in their briefcase, but not Americans.

  4. This wouldn’t happen if there were actual mandatory consequences. Confiscate the weapon, cancel all weapons permits and confiscate all the weapons he owns, $10,000 fine, banned from air travel for a year.

    Suddenly people wouldn’t be “forgetting” that they have a gun in their briefcase.

  5. Inquiring minds want to know if Haley Barbour — former Chairman of the Republican National Committee and Governor of Mississippi will see SSSS printed on his next boarding pass or does he get a pass?

  6. @Bob

    Q: Why was the travelling garbage can salesman not allowed to bring his samples on board?

    A: Because then he would be “bin laden”.

  7. Most normal people don’t carry guns because they trust public safety organizations to keep them safe, and these organizations do a great job at it.

    Gun nuts are a lot more dangerous than the people they claim to be protecting themselves from.

  8. Most of the whites carrying guns to the airports are dangerous terrorists. A bullet to the head to all these dangerous terrorists.

    Don’t rationalize “I forgot”. That’s how dangerous terrorists operate. Shoot them all!

    Wait! Torture them first!

  9. Sloppy gun ownership but not the end of the world. Do we know if he has a concealed carry permit? If he did it’s gone now. So will his Global Entry and PreCheck if he has that as well.

    100% of gun ownership is knowing where your weapon is at all times and knowing if it is loaded and chambered. He made a mistake, he’s not evil. He will pay for his actions and we will move on.

  10. Yea he was arrested AND made his flight. He got special treatment end of story. The whole I forgot about the gun in the briefcase story really highlights how he shouldn’t have a weapon because he apparently had no idea where his frickin weapon was. Responsible gun ownership at its finest right there.

  11. A previous report mentioned confiscation and about $4000 fine . I have to give him credit because he was quoted as placing the blame and responsibility on himself alone . How rare is that ?

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