Dwight Howard Brought a Loaded Gun to Houston Airport & Tried to Board a Plane

Houston Rockets center, Dwight Howard, was reportedly caught in an attempt to board a plane in Houston with a loaded gun. Luckily, Howard was not arrested.

According to ESPN, Howard was detained at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday for having a gun in his carry-on bag. Not only was there a gun in his bag, the gun was fully loaded. According to TMZ Sports, Howard admitted that the gun was his, but claimed that he forgot the gun was in his bag. The gun in question was a Glock 26 9mm.

Because Howard was in Texas, where gun regulation rules are quite different from other states, Howard was able to give the handgun to a friend to take away from the airport and was later able to board the flight with no further issues. According to Bleacher Report, new legislation in Texas allows registered gun holders a so-called gimme when they forget a gun is in their carry-on luggage. Howard got very lucky considering the law does not officially begin until Sept.1 and he could've faced a 3rd degree felony charge if the officials at George Bush Airport did not give Howard a reprieve. 

"It provides discretion to law enforcement to make a judgment right then and there," Sen. Juan Hinojosa told Tom Benning of the Dallas Morning News. "Was it just an unintentional mistake?"

Howard is not the only athlete caught trying to bring a gun on to airplanes. Andre Smith of the Cincinnati Bengals and WBC welterweight champion, Robert Guerrero are just two of many athletes who've been caught at airports with guns. Clearly our athletes seem to love their guns, even enough to potentially get detained and/or arrested just for carrying them...

Howard's got a lot going on, with a new sneaker deal with a Chinese company, Peak and now getting close to being detained at an airport for carrying a loaded gun. Hopefully this won't have too much of an effect on Howard's game when the new season starts, late next month.