A US Congressman who backed an American lawyer facing gun charges has said there was nothing stopping him bringing them into Bermuda as he did.

Jurors hearing the case of Gary Barket heard how he hid two guns in an old suitcase at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, for safekeeping last year.

He then forgot about the weapons, which were family heirlooms, when he brought the case with him in the hold of planes to the Island from Little Rock via Newark, New Jersey.

He ticked "no" on his Customs Traveller Declaration form as he entered Bermuda on January 23 when asked if he was carrying weapons, because he did not realise he had them.

However, the 61-year-old was stopped by security officials at L.F Wade International airport two days later when his luggage was X-rayed before he caught his flight home.

Mr. Barket faced a minimum ten year jail sentence if he had been convicted of illegally importing the weapons.

However, a jury cleared him yesterday after accepting his defence that he brought them to Bermuda by accident.

His Supreme Court trial heard evidence from Mayor of Little Rock Mark Stodola that it is legal in the United States to carry unloaded guns in a plane's hold luggage as long as they are unloaded and in a secure case.

The guns in the Barket case were unloaded, although not secured in a box. Mr. Stodola expressed concern that there are no advisories telling travellers like Mr. Barket that they may be breaking the rules of other countries.

The jurors heard Principal Crown counsel Michael McColm tell them yesterday that it was unclear whether the US authorities picked up on the guns in the suitcase on Mr. Barket's way into Bermuda.

"It's an interesting question, but it gets us nowhere and that's not a question for you," he said.

However, Congressman Vic Snyder, who represents the Congressional district number two of Arkansas, said after conversations with the head of the Transportation Security Administration at Little Rock National Airport, he's confident the guns were detected.

"He said 'we can't prove it, but I'm just about 100 percent sure that we would have seen those pistols in that bag'," explained Mr. Snyder. "He said that on average about once a day someone is carrying firearms to be checked into the plane and it's not unusual. They do the X-ray to check they're unloaded and in a case and then send them on."

Mr. Snyder agreed with Mr. Stodola that travellers could come into other countries with weapons without realising they are breaking local laws.

"Sometimes baggage checkers will notice that it's going to a destination that they know has strict gun laws and they may say something like 'are you aware?' but that's not their responsibility. It's one of those things," he said.

Congressman Snyder serves on the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and got to know Mr. Barket and his wife Terry last year when she was making arrangements for her deceased parents, who served in the US Military, to be honoured at the National Cemetery in Arlington.

He told the jury before yesterday's verdict: "There's been a lot of press coverage about this back home and they say he's the most honest, reliable person."

Responding to the issues raised during the case Aaron Adderley, General Manager at L.F Wade International Airport pointed out that according to the Transportation Security Administration operating procedures to which both US and Bermuda security screeners adhere, firearms carried as checked baggage must not only be unloaded and packed in a locked hard-sided container - but also declared to the airline at check-in.

"The firearm was detected in Bermuda because L.F. Wade International has performed 100 percent screening of all checked luggage and carry on bags since 2002. All of Bermuda's airport security screeners are trained to Aviation Security Level One requirements as defined by the UK Department for Transport and thereby also meet TSA provisions. As such, we are indeed satisfied that those requirements were ably met by the security screeners on the day of Mr. Barket's departure," he said.