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A .40 caliber handgun along with a box of ammunition was found in a Duquesne man's carry-on at the security checkpoint on Pittsburgh International Airport.
Allegheny County police were notified and they confiscated the gun and arrested the man.
The U.S. States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania also requested that county sheriffs to rescind a resident’s firearm concealed carry license due to negligence, per state policy.
It was the fifth gun that TSA officers have prevented from passing through the checkpoint so far this month.
At Harrisburg International Airport, TSA stopped a Harrisburg resident with a 9mm handgun loaded with nine bullets in his carry-on bag at the airport security checkpoint, that same day, according to a second release by the TSA.
The officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the police were alerted. TSA also forwarded the incident to be followed up with the issuance of a federal financial civil penalty.
It was the eighth gun that TSA officers have caught at the airport security checkpoint so far this year.
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.
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. 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.
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