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Playmate Arrested: Playboy Model Had Gun at Orlando Airport

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on August 10, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Though it's not all that uncommon to read about a Playboy Playmate arrested in a domestic dispute, barroom brawl, or for driving under the influence, Miss July 2010 Shanna Marie McLaughlin decided to go about getting arrested in her own unique way.

Police picked her up on early Monday evening after a TSA agent at Orlando International Airport observed a loaded .45 caliber Colt revolver in her carry-on bag as it went through X-ray screening equipment.

She definitely missed her plane to Los Angeles.

Primarily known for posing nude in the locker room of her alma mater (the University of Central Florida), McLaughlin denies that the gun was hers. The Orlando Sentinel reports that she claims it belongs to her boyfriend, and that she had no idea he had put it in her bag.

Though police told the paper that she has a concealed weapon permit, Florida law still does not permit Shanna Marie McLaughlin or any other license-holder to bring a firearm into an airport terminal unless it is encased for shipment and is intended to be checked luggage.

So, what's next for the Playmate?

Arrested and now out on bail, there are some reports that she has been charged with carrying a firearm in a place prohibited by law, but it's unclear whether any actual charges have been filed against Marie McLaughlin, if prosecutors are choosing to believe her explanation, or if police are looking for further information on how the gun ended up in her bag.

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