John N. Hostettler

John Nathan Hostettler (born June 19 1961), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing the 8th District of Indiana in the southwestern part of the state. A German-American like many of his constituents, Hostettler was born in Evansville, Indiana, and educated at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. He worked as an engineer before entering the U.S. House of Representatives.

Among Hostetler's largest campaign contributors in the 2003-2004 election cycle are Peabody Energy, Rutledge Oil Co., Heritage Petroleum and Lockheed Martin.

Pistol Packing Passenger

He was briefly detained at Louisville International Airport on April 20, 2004 when he attempted to board a flight for Washington, D.C. with a loaded 9 mm Glock pistol in his bag. The congressman explained he had "completely forgot" the gun was there. On August 10th, he pled guilty to carrying a deadly concealed weapon and agreed to a plea bargained sentence of 60 days that would be suspended for two years. .

On July 10th 2002 Hostettler introduced House Amendment 523 to House Resolution 4635 which would have removed the 2% cap on the number of pilots who may be deputized as Federal Flight Deck Officers and thus permitted to carry firearms to as well as requiring the Transportation Security Administration to train 20% of all pilots who volunteer for the program within 6 months of enactment and train 80% by the end of the 2-year pilot program. There were no cosponsors to his amendment and it failed in a roll call vote.