A former school superintendent in Southern Kentucky illegally carried a .45-caliber pistol on school property, a grand jury has charged.
The grand jury returned the indictment Monday against former McCreary County Superintendent John Gunn.
Gunn resigned as superintendent Feb. 20.
He was arrested the next day. Video footage showed he tried to enter the central office at the school system in Stearns at 6:02 a.m., and later acknowledged he had a gun at the time, according to a citation.
There was no one in the building at the time. Gunn couldn’t get in because his access card had been deactivated.
Gunn had purposely gone to the central office early in order to collect his belongings, and has said he did not realize he had the gun in his pocket, said his attorney, David Hoskins.
“He absolutely did not go there with the intent of harming anybody,” Hoskins said.
Gunn was arrested several hours later after he returned to the office. He did not have the gun at that time.
The charge in the indictment returned Monday is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison for a conviction.
Hoskins said he has filed a motion arguing the law is unconstitutional as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has changed how courts consider gun restrictions.
Earlier this year, a federal judge in Kentucky dismissed a charge against a man who had a gun while he was subject to a domestic violence order. That ruling came as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court case.