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Ted Nugent's wife says she carried a loaded handgun through airport security this week BY ACCIDENT ... a gun she owned because of death threats she had been receiving ... this according to the police report stemming from her arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... 51-year-old Shemane Deziel was busted Thursday morning at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport for bringing a gun into the terminal.

But according to the police report, she didn't just bring the gun into the terminal ... she actually left it in her carry-on bag to bring it onto the plane ... and it was LOADED.

TSA screeners said they spotted the Smith & Wesson 38 special revolver on an x-ray monitor, and when police inspected Deziel's luggage, they noticed it was loaded with 5 rounds of ammunition with an additional 10 rounds packed in a side pocket of her bag.

Shemane said she had forgotten the gun was in her bag, but stated she had a concealed handgun license in Texas.

After Shemane was placed under arrest, she told police she began to carry the gun for protection after receiving death threats. She didn't specify where the threats were coming from or why she was receiving them. The gun and ammo were seized as evidence.