Martina Navratilova, who Sunday was detained at...

Martina Navratilova, who Sunday was detained at San Francisco International Airport for carrying a concealed weapon in her hand luggage, apparently was mistaken when she told airport officials that she had a permit issued in Texas for the gun.

According to a spokesman for the Texas attorney general’s office, no gun permits are required or issued in the state.

Navratilova, the No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player, had been in Oakland for a tournament. She said the unloaded, 38-caliber handgun was mistakenly placed in her luggage by a friend who had helped her pack.

She had been advised to carry the gun because of a series of murders and a rape in her Texas neighborhood, she said.

The Czechoslovakian-born tennis star, who now resides in Fort Worth, said she didn’t intend to carry the gun on the airplane and that the incident was an unfortunate mistake that she would “like to forget.”

“I can’t believe that it has caused such a stir,” she said at the Princeton Indoor Tennis Center after winning a first-round match in the U.S. Women’s Indoor Tennis Championships.

Navratilova could face a misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum six-month jail term and a $500 fine.