Why T.I.'s stepdaughter brought a gun to the airport

ATLANTA — T.I.’s stepdaughter was arrested June 17 after authorities said she tried to carry a gun through security at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Now Zonnique Pullins, 20, is explaining what happened.

“I was running really late to the airport, so I was throwing a lot of stuff into my purse so I could get there and the gun is really small and it was in the bottom of my purse,”

. “I just forgot it was in there. I couldn’t see it, so when I went through security check, they pretty much found it.”

and toss it, but she wound up booked into the Clayton County jail instead, her hardware booked into evidence at the Atlanta Police Department. She told agents she had a weapons permit but could not produce it, an Atlanta police report said.

Her mom, T.I.’s wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris, told

she purchased the weapon for her daughter as protection.

“She’s staying on her own now, she’s older and we’re not around her as much,” Tiny said. “I don’t really know all of her whereabouts all the time. I felt like she needed something, especially for the house. Somebody break in or whatever, she has some kind of protection.”

Zonnique faces weapons charges.

Cox Media Group