Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials warn that boarding a plane with a loaded firearm is asking for trouble amid a spike in unruly behavior incidents.
On August 9, TSA officers stopped a firearm from making its way onboard an airplane at Fort Wayne International Airport. During the routine screening of carry-on luggage, a TSA officer spotted the image of a handgun on the X-ray screen. TSA officials immediately alerted Fort Wayne Airport Public Safety, who responded to the checkpoint and confiscated the weapon, which was loaded.
Two days later, TSA officers stopped a Roanoke resident from carrying her a 9mm handgun onto an airplane at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. The handgun was loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber. TSA officials detected the gun in the woman’s carry-on bag. They immediately alerted the airport police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the weapon and cited the woman on weapons charges.
On August 12, TSA officers at Richmond International Airport prevented a Fredericksburg, Virginia, man from carrying a .25 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets onto his flight. The gun was detected in the X-ray machine among the traveler’s carry-on items at the security checkpoint. TSA alerted police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the handgun and issued the man a citation. In addition to being cited by the police, he also faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty for bringing a loaded gun to an airport security checkpoint.
“It’s been well publicized that we are seeing a spike in unruly passengers on board flights, and gun owners need to know that we mean business when we detect a gun at a checkpoint,” said Robin “Chuck” Burke, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Richmond International. “The last thing that passengers in commercial aviation need is to have someone with a loaded gun on a flight. We take it extremely seriously when our officers stop a traveler with a gun or any other weapon such as knives, tasers etc., at a checkpoint. Guns are just not to be carried onto flights,” he added.
“It’s very concerning that we’re seeing passengers fighting with flight attendants and fellow travelers. Throw a weapon of any type into the picture and there’s no telling what the outcome could be,” Burke said “There will be a very stiff federal financial penalty handed down on top of any criminal charges that the police impose when weapons are detected.”
Elsewhere, TSA officers at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport stopped two handguns from being brought onboard airplanes last week. In the first incident, on August 11, TSA officers detected the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine at about 6:30 a.m. The passenger, a Menomonee Falls resident, had an expired concealed weapons permit. Then on August 12, another gun was caught at about 6:20 a.m. at the checkpoint. The passenger, a Milwaukee resident, stated she had not realized the firearm was in her purse. In both cases, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office was notified. Deputies confiscated the weapons, which both were loaded with a round chambered, and escorted the passengers to the airport substation.
TSA officers stopped another firearm from entering an aircraft at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on August 13. This was the second firearm detected in a week and the fourth detection this year by TSA officers at Manchester-Boston security checkpoints. This fourth find equals the amount found in all of 2018. In 2019 TSA officers discovered one firearm at the airport’s security checkpoints and two during 2020. On Friday evening, a TSA officer detected a loaded .22 caliber firearm along with ten rounds, with one chambered in a man’s carry-on bag. Londonderry Police responded, cleared the gun and escorted the man to his vehicle in order to secure the firearm.
A Monroe County, Pennsylvania, woman was arrested by police on August 13 for carrying a gun to the TSA security checkpoint at Lehigh Valley International Airport. TSA officers spotted the 9 mm handgun loaded with eight bullets in the woman’s carry-on bag. The gun had one bullet in the chamber. When the TSA officer spotted the gun on the checkpoint X-ray monitor, the police were alerted, confiscated the gun and arrested the woman, a resident of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on weapons charges. This was the fourth firearm stopped at the checkpoint this year. Just one firearm was detected at the checkpoint in 2020 and also in 2019 when there were more travelers.
On August 15, TSA officers caught a Pennsylvania resident with a 9mm handgun loaded with 13 bullets in his carry-on bag at Pittsburgh International Airport. One of the bullets was found to be in the chamber of the firearm. When TSA officers spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, they alerted Allegheny County Police who then confiscated the weapon. The man, a resident of Emlenton, which straddles Clarion and Venango counties in Pennsylvania, told officials that he forgot that he had his loaded gun with him. It was the eighteenth firearm caught at the airport this year. 21 were stopped in 2020 and 35 were caught by TSA officers in 2019.
Travelers are not permitted to carry their guns onto airplanes, however, passengers are allowed to transport their firearms as checked baggage if they are properly packed and declared at their airline ticket counter to be transported in the belly of the plane with checked baggage. Checked firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition.
Read guidance on the correct way to travel with a firearm at TSA
