This gun was detected by TSA in a woman’s handbag at Philadelphia International Airport on Jan. 22. (TSA photo)
PHILADELPHIA – Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Philadelphia International Airport have caught two handguns at security checkpoints in the last three days.
TSA officers prevented a Philadelphia woman from bringing a loaded handgun onto her flight on Saturday, Jan. 22. The woman was in possession of a .380 caliber handgun loaded with six bullets. The gun was tucked into the woman’s handbag.
When the TSA officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the police were alerted and confiscated the weapon. TSA forwarded the incident to be followed up with the issuance of a federal financial civil penalty.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Jan. 25, TSA officers detected an unloaded .380 caliber handgun in the carry-on bag of a Montgomery County, Pa. man. The man, a resident of Harleysville, Pa., was also cited by police.
“Travelers who own handguns need to take a little extra time when packing for a flight to make sure that they have not packed a gun or ammunition in any of their carry-on bags,” said Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “The right way to transport your gun is to pack the unloaded firearm in a locked hard-sided case, place it in your checked baggage and declare it at the check-in counter so that the airline can place it in the belly of the plane where nobody has access to it during a flight. These individuals now face a stiff federal civil penalty that could cost them thousands of dollars.”
TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty of up to $13,900 to individuals who bring weapons with them to a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating or aggravating circumstances. This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because even though an individual may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried into an airport or onto an airplane. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
Travelers 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. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and travelers should check into firearm laws before they decide to travel with their guns. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
When an individual shows up at a checkpoint with a firearm, the checkpoint lane comes to a standstill until the police resolve the incident. Guns at checkpoints can delay travelers from getting to their gates.
Nationwide, TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints last year. Of the guns caught by TSA in 2022, about 86 percent were loaded.