ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Channel 9 was the only station there as a 63-year-old grandmother was released from the Orange County jail Monday morning. Mary Ann Richardson of Pennsylvania was arrested for trying to take a loaded handgun into a Disney theme park.

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SLIDESHOW: Images Of Grandmother After Release From Jail
RAW INTERVIEW: Tearful Grandmother Talks After Release

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Richardson told Eyewitness News it was all a misunderstanding and she just forgot the gun was in her purse. Eyewitness News checked and it was Richardson's first run in with the law.

At home in Pennsylvania, neighbors know Richardson as a small town community activist. Monday morning, the 63-year-old walked out of the Orange County jail holding the same purse she tried to take inside a Disney theme park.

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Richardson was headed inside Magic Kingdom with her daughter and three young grandchildren Sunday when security screeners found a loaded .32-caliber handgun at the bottom of her bag, along with a pocket knife and a pair of scissors.

"I forget a lot of things. That might sound silly and stupid, but I did not remember that the pistol was down there," Richardson told Eyewitness News after her released.

Other Disney World vacationers said they're not buying Richardson's story.

"I would know if there was a gun in mine. I know everything that's in my purse. So I hope the law handles her in a good way so she'll think twice before she does something like that again," a Disney visitor told Eyewitness News.

Richardson doesn't have a permit to carry the gun, but said she carries it for protection back home and she never had plans to hurt or scare anyone at the park.

"There was never any intent to malicious behavior or criminal behavior," she said.

Channel 9 learned Richardson is a community activist in a small town where she lives near Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 2001, she helped get an old battery plant cleaned up that's since been shut down. But now she's been arrested for a crime that could land her in jail for a while.

"I apologize sincerely and deeply and I apologize for embarrassing my daughter and her family," a tearful Richardson said.

Richardson doesn't have a court date set for the concealed weapon charge. Monday morning, she was trying to figure out how to get back home to Pennsylvania. She couldn't get in touch with her daughter, who Richardson drove to Orlando with.