Burk was questioned by police Wednesday night after he notified a United Airlines ticket agent that he wanted to carry his weapon - unloaded and in a bag - on a flight to Los Angeles, said Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella.

The bodyguard, who works for the California-based security firm Gavin de Becker & Associates, told police he had traveled to New York with Moore earlier this month, Ciavolella said. He produced licenses for his Mauser handgun from California and Florida, but not New York, which prompted his arrest.

Burk has been assigned to protect Moore at times in the past, but is not his personal bodyguard, Gavin de Becker said.

De Becker defended Burk, saying he had followed proper procedures at the airport. He called him "a leading professional in his field."

A call to a spokesman for Moore was not immediately returned.

Moore, the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," won the documentary Academy Award for 2002's "Bowling for Columbine," a scathing look at the gun culture in America.

In an interview last year with Playboy magazine, Moore called the National Rifle Association a "radical, freaky group."

"Most Americans are with me on this," he said about stricter gun controls. "They understand duck hunters don't need Uzis and cop-killer bullets."

© 2005 The Associated Press

Editor's note: