The Radnor, PA resident was seized when a Transportation Security Administration officer spotted the .38-caliber handgun as it passed through the X-ray monitor in a carry-on bag, TSA Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.
It was loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber, she said.
"Security officials alerted New Jersey State Police, who confiscated the handgun and arrested the man," Farbstein said. "The man claimed that the carry-on bag and its contents, including the loaded gun, belonged to his father."
Under no circumstances can a passenger carry a gun onto a plane, the TSA says.
Passengers can travel with firearms only in checked baggage and if they're properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter.
Firearms must be unloaded in a hard-sided locked case that's packed separately from ammunition, the TSA says. The locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.
“Bringing a deadly weapon such as a loaded handgun to a security checkpoint is a very serious offense,” said Thomas Carter, the TSA’s federal security director for New Jersey. “Travelers are responsible for the contents of their bags.”
Besides the criminal liability, violators can also be fined thousands of dollars by the federal government. That not includes guns but gun parts, as well.
Any who are TSA PreCheck members lose those privileges, the TSA says.
This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits.
TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website: Transporting Firearms and Ammunition (TSA.gov).
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