Canyon County Commissioner David Ferdinand

BOISE - Canyon County commissioner David Ferdinand appeared on KIDO NewsRadio 580 Wednesday morning to talk about his recent citation for trying to take a gun through security at the Boise Airport.

Transportation Security Administration officials said Ferdinand had the loaded firearm in his carryon luggage on February 29^th.

Boise Police issued a misdemeanor citation to Ferdinand. He said that leaving the gun in carrryon was a mistake.

“I didn’t pack it like some newspapers say,” Ferdinand said on KIDO this morning. “You don’t pack a gun! I’d been to McCall, and I carry a different bag. I’m in and out of the courthouse – and as a public elected official in the State of Idaho, you some times get threatened and things happen.”

Ferdinand has a concealed weapons permit – and says it is a matter of course for him to carry the weapon.

“I was carrying it in and out of the courthouse, and it was in a bag in an area that wouldn’t fall out,” he said.

He said a TSA screener stopped him and asked if there was “anything in the bag that shouldn’t be there.”  He didn’t immediately realize the weapon was in the bag.

“They’ve set a pre-trial date to talk about it,” he said. “I’d like to get the firearm back – and it’s silly, you shouldn’t do those types of things – I’m not trying to make light of the problem.”

He noted that officials with the TSA and Boise Police Department were courteous.  He even received a letter from the TSA offering him a deal on the federal fine.

“(The) TSA sent me a letter the other day saying the fine was $3,000 – but if you send $1500 today we’ll take care of it!”

Listen to Ferdinand on KIDO (MP3)