This gun was detected by TSA in a traveler’s carry-on bag at Pittsburgh International Airport on March 23. (TSA photo)
PITTSBURGH – A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer at Pittsburgh International Airport prevented an Allegheny County man from bringing his loaded handgun onto his flight on Wednesday, March 23.
The man, a resident of Munhall, Pa., was in possession of a .357 caliber handgun loaded with five bullets.
When the TSA officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the Allegheny County Police were alerted, confiscated the revolver and cited the man on a weapons charge. TSA forwarded the incident to be followed up with the issuance of a federal financial civil penalty.
The U.S. States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced late last year that in firearm incidents at the checkpoint that involve an individual who possesses a valid concealed carry permit, that they will request County Sheriffs to rescind that resident’s firearms concealed carry license due to negligence.
“There is not a single good excuse for bringing a loaded gun to a security checkpoint,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Responsible gun owners know where their firearm is at all times and they know that the only way to fly with their gun is to pack it correctly and declare it to the airline so it can fly in the belly of the plane, never in the cabin of the aircraft. If you try to bring it through a checkpoint, you’ll pay the consequences.”
Guns detected at Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoints, 2017 to 2022
|
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 (As of 3/23/22) |
|
Guns caught at Pittsburgh International Airport checkpoints |
32 |
34 |
35 |
21 |
32 |
4 |
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 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 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.