This gun was detected by TSA in a man’s handbag at Philadelphia International Airport on Jan. 28. (TSA photo)
PHILADELPHIA – A Georgia man was cited by police after Transportation Security Administration officers detected a handgun in the man’s carry-on bag at a security checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, Jan. 28.
It was the third handgun that TSA officers have detected at the airport checkpoints in a seven-day span. Officers also stopped a Philadelphia woman on Saturday, Jan. 22, and a Harleysville, Pa., man on Tuesday, Jan. 25, each with guns among their carry-on items.
In each instance, when the TSA officers spotted the guns in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the police were alerted and confiscated the weapons. TSA forwarded each incident to be followed up with the issuance of a federal financial civil penalty.
The man who was stopped on Friday, Jan. 28, claimed that the .40 caliber handgun in his possession was a training weapon, however it was an actual functioning firearm.
“Guns and airplanes don’t mix,” said Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Guns of any type are not permitted through security checkpoints. That includes actual firearms, replica guns, toy guns, training guns, BB guns, starter pistols, air-soft guns and any other type of gun. Even realistic replica guns can cause a panic on a flight.”
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.