Isn’t it such a delight to see good ol’ Scotty McCreery in the news again?
As hard as it may be to believe, it’s been six years since Scotty won his season of American Idol with his super deep, super country voice.
Since then, he’s been big in the country music scene — really big, in certain circles.
And good for him, right?
But while Scotty has always been adorable, the circumstances of this new story about him aren’t exactly the best.
And that’s because the story is about how Scotty actually brought a loaded gun into an airport.
It’s more than a little shocking, because literally everyone has enough sense to know that this is a terrible, dangerous move, and those who do it anyway usually have the worst intentions.
But it seems like Scotty really just made an honest mistake.
On July 13th, he went to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, and while he was going through security, it was discovered that he was carrying a 9mm handgun and ammunition in his backpack.
He did have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but still … what he did wasn’t exactly legal.
He was cited with a misdemeanor, the gun was taken, and he was allowed to board his flight.
So what happened?!
As Scotty explained in a statement to a local news station, “I have been a concealed carry permit holder for a while now after being robbed at gunpoint in 2014, and I take gun safety very seriously.”
We’re sure he does — the robbery he’s referring to hear sounded terrifying.
As he said, in 2014, he was robbed at gunpoint when a group of men broke into his Raleigh home, forced him and his roommates to lie face-down on the ground, and proceeded to steal cash and electronics.
It’s understandable that he’d want to get a permit to carry a gun of his own after such an ordeal, and it’s also easy to believe that he’d be extremely careful with it.
“While in between tour dates last week,” Scotty continued, “I went to go target shooting with a friend a few days before an early flight out of my hometown Raleigh-Durham airport.”
“Unfortunately, I did not realize that I left my pistol in my backback until the TSA found it during the security X-ray screening and rightfully confiscated it.”
“I had my concealed carry permit on me,” he added, “so once they had checked everything out, they then released me to catch the next available flight.”
“Great to know our airport security force is on the job. I have learned a lesson that I won’t forget.”
We imagine that’s a pretty big understatement.
