State Sen. Jeff Wilson claims Hong Kong gun charge was due to 'honest mistake'

Longview Republican says he packed gun in carry-on that was missed at PDX security checkpoint; TSA has poor security record

Washington State Sen. Jeff Wilson, a Republican from Longview, was arrested in Hong Kong on Saturday after airport security discovered an unlicensed gun in his carry-on, according to a newspaper account.

Through a legislative spokesman, Wilson said the alleged offense was “an honest mistake” and that airport security at Portland International Airport failed to detect the firearm, an unloaded .38 caliber revolver.

Wilson, a prominent local businessman, community booster and leader of the GOP’s conservative wing, was taken into custody after a security screener spotted the gun, according to the Hong Kong-based publication The Standard and distributed by The Messenger News.

Wilson, 63, did not have a license for the weapon, according to the news accounts.

Wilson was granted $2,556 bail and faces a court hearing on Oct. 30. The Standard reported that he also had to surrender his travel documents. He has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm. He was released Sunday after posting bail and faces a hearing on Oct. 30, according to Wilson’s office.

Wilson has a lawyer.

Eric Smith, Wilson’s legislative spokesman, said the senator was starting a five-week personal vacation to Southeast Asia. He inadvertently packed a pistol in his multi-compartment carry-on bag, Smith said.

The gun was not spotted by TSA airport security in Portland and the couple did not have to clear security again in San Francisco, where they boarded the flight to Hong Kong, Smith said. Wilson only realized he had packed the revolver when he was midflight en route to Hong Kong and reached for some gum in his bag, Smith said.

Once Wilson landed in Hong Kong, he alerted customs authorities to the gun and was arrested, Smith told The Times. (This account is at odds with the news account that airport security discovered the weapon.)

Wilson has a Washington concealed weapons permit, Smith said, but he did not know if he has one for Oregon or California, which were on his travel itinerary. Wilson uses the same case for other forms of travel, not just for flights, Smith said.

A U.S. Transportation Security Administration media spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment about Wilson’s alleged security breach at Portland or whether officials here will investigate him.

“TSA let the senator down,” Smith said.

TSA has been widely criticized for ineffective screening of guns, drugs and other contraband. Tests using fake guns show that weapons pass through security checkpoint completely undetected the vast majority of the time, with the failure rate ranging from 70 % to 80%.

The TSA reported stopping 3,251 firearms at U.S. airport checkpoints in the first half of this year — or about 8 firearms per million passengers (down slightly from the year before). About 92% of the guns were loaded.

The Standard reported that Wilson “verbally abused” reporters who took pictures of him and his wife leaving court and demanded they delete them. 

Wilson, who also is a Port of Longview commissioner, was first elected to the Washington Senate in 2020 and has represented the state’s 19th District since then.

Wilson is paying for the whole cost of the trip, which is entirely personal except for a planned visit of the Port of Shanghai to visit port officials there, Smith said.

Other countries on his itinerary are Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. Wilson hopes to resume his itinerary when the matter is resolved.

He is the former owner and operator of Cowlitz Clean Sweep and has been involved in several high-profile local community causes, such as the restoration of the Shay Locomotive at the Longview Public Library and efforts to clean up hypodermic needles discarded by drug users.

Was it ethical for Wilson to use a state employee to comment on a matter that is personal? “Good question,“ Smith said, adding that the legislative ethics board cleared it due to media questions about the purpose of Wilson’s trip.

In the United States, it is legal to transport unloaded firearms in checked baggage if they are locked in a hard-sided container. They must be declared at the ticket counter. Some airlines have additional requirements.

Attempts to contact the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong — a branch of the State Department — were not immediately successful, perhaps due of the time differential.

State Sen. John Braun, a Centralia Republican and GOP leader, said Monday morning that he had not heard anything more than the press accounts and said it is too early to say how the allegations might affect Wilson’s role in the Legislature.

Hong Kong has far stricter gun control rules than the United States, and gun deaths there number in the single digits annually. Gun ownership is rare. In a comparison of the rate of privately owned guns in 206 countries, Hong Kong ranked at No.121, according to research from the University of Sydney in Australia. Private gun ownership is not protected or guaranteed by laws as it is under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

In Hong Kong, only licensed gun owners may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition, according to the University of Sydney research. In addition, an understanding of firearm safety and the law, tested in a theoretical and/or practical training course, is required for a firearm license.