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A well-known Utah personal injury attorney was arrested Thursday morning after authorities allege he tried to bring a loaded handgun through a Salt Lake City International Airport checkpoint.
Sandy lawyer Craig Swapp, who is best known for his television commercials with the catchy slogan "One Call, That's All," was arrested Thursday morning by airport police on suspicion of possession of a firearm in an airport secure area, airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann confirmed Friday morning.
"That is just one of those days you wish you could redo," Swapp said Friday, a day after being booked and released at the Salt Lake County Jail.
Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said screeners found a .38-caliber handgun that was loaded with six rounds of ammunition while searching the carry-on luggage for passengers flying from Salt Lake City to Boise, Idaho.
She said the gun was among 24 loaded weapons found at the airport this year, and the seventh found since Oct. 1. Nationally, she said more than 1,100 firearms have been found this year.
Swapp said he has a concealed carry permit and carries a gun with him most places for self-defense. Typically when he flies, Swap said he locks his gun up in a gun vault at his home. But Thursday about 8 a.m. with his mind on other matters, he simply forgot the handgun was stored in a case at the bottom of his briefcase.
"When they found it in my bag it was as big a surprise to me as it was to them," Swapp said. "It was a stupid mistake. I forgot it was even in there. I wouldn't subject myself to that intentionally."
He said he was arrested and found himself on the same side of the jail booking area as some of his clients. He said he has a new understanding of the process, but added that everyone involved was "very respectful and courteous."
"It was a fairly short ordeal," he said. "It seemed like forever yesterday."
It was Swapp's first arrest.
Dankers said even if a person has a concealed carry permit, it is illegal to bring a weapon onto a plane in a carry-on bag. Passengers can have a gun packed inside their checked luggage, but they have to declare it to the airline. Even then, it must be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided case, she said.
She said anyone caught trying to bring a dangerous weapon through security can face a TSA-levied civil penalty of up to $11,000. She said a typical penalty is about $3,000, but those fines are determined on a case-by-case basis.
That fine is in addition to possible criminal prosecution. Charges were not expected to be filed against Swapp until next week at the soonest.
Swapp said he hopes that by talking about his experience, others might avoid making the same mistake.
"It's one of those deals with more and more concealed weapons permits [being issued], people just need to be more and more careful," he said.
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