Indiana man charged with carrying gun into Pittsburgh airport

2023 set airport’s record for most guns caught in a single year

Agents at Pittsburgh International Airport caught another gun at a security checkpoint on Thursday, upping the tally of firearms found at the airport’s checkpoints to eight so far this year.

Bryan Force, 43, of Indiana, Pa., was stopped at 9:30 a.m. with a firearm in his backpack, according to Allegheny County police. Mr. Force was charged with carrying a firearm without a license and faces up to $10,000 in civil fines from TSA, police said.

Last year, a record 6,737 firearms were caught at checkpoints nationwide and Pittsburgh was part of that disturbing trend.

Last year also set the record for most guns caught in a single year at the Pittsburgh Airport, with 44 guns detected at the airport checkpoints, beating the previous record of 35 set in 2019.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage and only 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. Details on how to properly travel with a firearm are posted on the TSA website.

Civil penalties for bringing a weapon into a checkpoint can reach up to $15,000, depending on the specific weapon and the 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. This also applies to travelers who are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.

The complete list of civil penalties is posted online.