GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz charged with weapons violation at Dulles Airport

Virginia law prohibits the possession or transport of a gun and other dangerous weapons “into any air carrier airport terminal.”

July 1, 2024, 9:27 PM UTC / Updated July 1, 2024, 10:07 PM UTC

By Rebecca Kaplan and Zoë Richards

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., has been charged with weapons violation at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed to NBC News on Monday.

The spokesperson, who said the congresswoman was charged on Friday, cited a section of Virginia state law tied to the dangerous use of firearms or other weapons, which makes it a crime to “possess or transport" a gun or a variety of other dangerous weapons "into any air carrier airport terminal." The statute classifies the violation as a misdemeanor.

NBC News has reached out to Spartz’s office for comment.

Spartz, who is the first Ukrainian-born immigrant to serve in Congress, is seeking re-election in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, which includes suburbs north of Indianapolis and is rated solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. She won her primary in May, defeating a challenger who took aim at her support of Ukraine aid and other issues.

Spartz is not the first lawmaker in recent years to face a violation tied to possessing a weapon at an airport.

Then-Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., was cited in 2022 for having a loaded handgun at a security checkpoint at an airport in his home state. He had been stopped twice with a firearm at an airport during his two years in office. Cawthorn lost his primary in 2022.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-victoria-spartz-charged-weapons-violation-dulles-airport-rcna159864

(This makes one wonder how many times she has flown out of Dulles with a handgun in the past and wasn't charged. It seems they targeted her)