It’s embarrassing enough when you’re a gun-grabbing politician who gets caught with a weapon at the airport. The shame increases exponentially when it gets found in your man-purse.

Meet California state Assemblyman Jim Cooper of Sacramento, a Democrat and retired law enforcement officer who served as a captain in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, according to his legislative biography. He’s running for the county’s sheriff’s post in November, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Thus, he doesn’t just have to explain to his district’s constituents why the loaded gun was found in his murse, he’s going to have to explain to a whole new cohort of voters why it was in there, too.

On March 8, the Bee reported that Assemblyman Cooper was caught with the gun March 3 at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Sacramento International Airport. The newspaper reported that “typically,” a traveler could be charged with a misdemeanor for having a gun at the airport, but state law makes an exception for retired law enforcement officers.

Guns, however, are never allowed in carry-on luggage, a Transportation Security Administration official told the Bee.

According to the Bee’s report, the gun was found in Cooper’s purse, a bag he was in control of.

He wasn’t cited at the time, although Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rodney Grassman said the case was “under review” and that a citation could be issued later on.