Rock musician charged with having loaded gun on US flight

ATLANTA: Rock guitarist Rick Derringer told a federal air marshal that he keeps his gun with him on commercial airline flights 30 to 50 times a year, and was only detained last month at Atlanta’s airport near the end of a trip to Mexico, authorities said.

Found with a loaded gun in his carry-on bag after stepping off a Delta Air Lines flight from Cancun, Mexico, he now faces a criminal charge in Atlanta, court records show.

Derringer, 69, told the air marshal that having his gun with him has never posed a problem until this year, when it was found at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a court affidavit states.

“Derringer explained that he was aware that his pistol was in his carry-on bag but he thought that it was acceptable to carry a pistol on an airplane,” according to the complaint filed this week in US District Court in Atlanta.

Derringer, whose music topped the charts in the 1960s and which has been used in pro wrestling and presidential politics more recently, was charged with unlawfully entering the Atlanta airport secure area Jan 9.

Air passengers are allowed to bring guns as checked baggage only.

Derringer meant no harm and will work with the government to clear his name, his manager Kenn Moutenot said in a statement.

He thought he was permitted to have the gun because he has a license to carry one, Moutenot said in the statement.

However, numerous signs in the Atlanta airport warn passengers that they aren’t allowed to carry guns on airplanes.

“The person who missed this in the screening was terminated,” said Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

But many banned items have gone undetected by screeners at several airports, government audits show.

In 2015, some US Congress members said fake weapons, explosives and other contraband went unnoticed in 67 out of 70 tries – about 96% of the time – at TSA airport checkpoints.