This gun was detected by TSA in a traveler’s carry-on bag at Washington Dulles International Airport on Nov. 17. (TSA photo)
DULLES, Va. – A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) prevented an Augusta County, Va., resident from bringing a loaded handgun onto his flight on Thursday, Nov. 17. The .22 caliber handgun was loaded with four bullets.
The weapon was caught as the Mount Solon, Va, man entered the security checkpoint. The checkpoint X-ray machine alerted the TSA officer who was staffing the X-ray monitor to take a closer look at the contents of the bag. TSA officials notified the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police who confiscated the gun and cited the man on a weapons charge.
The man told officials that the gun did not belong to him and that he did not know how it managed to find its way into his carry-on bag.
“The busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period officially gets underway today and our TSA officers are focused on our mission to continue to stop weapons from being carried through our security checkpoints,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA Federal Security Director for the airport. “It is important for travelers to know what can and cannot be carried through our checkpoints—especially during what is typically the busiest travel period of the year. Any prohibited item, from a firearm to an oversized liquid, that is detected in a carry-on bag slows down the checkpoint screening process for the travelers whose carry-on bags trigger an alarm for a prohibited item. Please do not be that person.”
Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? Download the free myTSA app, which has a handy “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly. Or ask on Twitter or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA.
Firearms Caught at the Washington Dulles International Airport checkpoints, 2017 to 2022
|
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 (As of 11/17/22) |
|
Guns caught |
13 |
16 |
14 |
10 |
30 |
19 |
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.
Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because 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. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
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.
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 2021, about 86 percent were loaded.