Washington state Sen. Jeff Wilson was taken into custody by Chinese authorities at Hong Kong International Airport last Friday after he stored a revolver in his carry-on luggage.

“It was an honest mistake, and I expect the situation to be resolved shortly,” the 63-year-old Republican state senator said in a statement. 

Wilson, who was heading to Southeast Asia on vacation with his wife, said he found his unloaded gun in his carry-on bag mid-flight when he was trying to get a piece of gum. The state senator has a concealed carry permit in his home state of Washington, but not in Hong Kong.

Upon landing in the city, he promptly reported the firearm to the customs officials, contrary to some reports claiming the weapon was discovered during a bag check at the airport.

Arrested for possessing an unregistered firearm, Wilson has since been released on bail. 

He has a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 30 and, if convicted, could be fined $12,800 and serve a maximum sentence of 14 years, although the court where Wilson will appear is said to rarely mete out sentences of more than two years.

Local authorities have also confiscated his passport and ordered him not to leave Hong Kong, putting on hold his five-week vacation to Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as a scheduled meeting with some officials in Shanghai. 

The Transportation Security Administration has launched an investigation into the incident, as Wilson’s firearm should have been spotted and confiscated before he departed from Portland and then boarded his connecting flight in San Francisco. 

A TSA spokesperson responded to the incident by stating, “Firearms are not permitted in the secure area of airports and represents an expensive mistake for those who are stopped at checkpoints with firearms in their possession.”

In 2022, TSA officers confiscated from travelers more than 6,500 firearms, 88 percent of which were loaded. The 10 airports with the most guns confiscated last year were nearly all in Southern states, with the top three being the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. 

According to the TSA, those who intend to fly with a gun must declare it to the airline before boarding and keep it locked in their checked luggage.