This handgun was detected by TSA officers in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Norfolk International Airport on Feb. 24. (TSA photo)
NORFOLK, Va. – Transportation Security Administration officers at Norfolk International Airport prevented a Virginia Beach woman from carrying a handgun onto her flight on Thursday, Feb. 24. The 9mm gun was loaded with six bullets.
TSA officers stopped the woman when her carry-on bag triggered an alarm in the security checkpoint X-ray unit.
Upon spotting the weapon, TSA alerted airport police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the handgun and cited the woman on a weapons violation.
TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns with them at a checkpoint. 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 onto an airplane. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online and can run into thousands of dollars. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and passengers should do their homework to make sure that they are not violating any local firearm laws. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms at airport security checkpoints nationwide in 2021. Eighty-six percent of those guns were loaded.