Third gun seized in a week at airport TSA checkpoint
Transportation Security Administration officers caught a Georgia man with a loaded 9-millimeter handgun in his carry-on luggage at a security checkpoint Friday, marking the third gun seized in a week.
Last week, TSA officers discovered a loaded revolver in a carry-on bag belonging to a resident of Clarion County and two days later found a .380 caliber handgun in a woman’s backpack.
With 33 gun seizures at the airport so far this year, Pittsburgh International is on track for its highest yearly total of confiscations; the previous record was 35 in 2019. Last year, 26 firearms were caught.
Nationwide, the TSA said from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, they intercepted 5,072 firearms at airport security. In a news release, the agency said at the current rate, it expects to surpass last year’s record of 6,542 firearms found at security checkpoints.
And in just the last three months, from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, the TSA said it found 1,820 firearms at airport security checkpoints across the country — an average of 19.8 guns intercepted per day. The TSA said more than 94% of those guns were loaded.
Each person caught with a gun faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty, running as high as $15,000.
“There is absolutely no excuse for bringing a gun to one of our checkpoints,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Pittsburgh International Airport. “Travelers are responsible for the items that they have in their possession. Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry- on luggage. Responsible gun owners know this.
“We are on the cusp of setting a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected at checkpoints here in Pittsburgh during a single year and we still have three full months left in 2023. This is not the type of record that we are looking to set. We would much rather see fewer travelers showing up at the checkpoint with their guns.”
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard- sided locked case.
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.