TSA officers at Yeager Airport stopped a man with this loaded handgun at the security checkpoint on Oct. 17. (TSA photo)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Fayette County, W.Va., man was cited by police after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Yeager Airport caught a loaded handgun in the man’s carry-on bag on Monday, October 17. The .380 caliber handgun was loaded with eight bullets including one in the chamber. An additional gun magazine loaded with eight more bullets was also packed with the gun.
When the TSA officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, local police were alerted, came to the checkpoint, confiscated the weapon and cited the man, a resident of Nallen, W.Va., on a weapons charge. 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.
“Our officers are vigilant and are focused on our mission to ensure that no weapons of any type are able to be carried onto a flight,” said John C. Allen, TSA’s Federal Security Director for West Virginia. “Responsible gun owners know where their firearm is at all times and they know not to try to bring one through a security checkpoint. We have no concerns if a firearm is packed properly so it can be transported in a checked bag where nobody has access to it during a flight.”
TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating 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. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
TSA Firearms Caught at the Yeager Airport checkpoint, 2017 to 2022
|
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020* |
2021 |
2022 (As of 10/17/22) |
|
Guns caught |
2 |
2 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
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.