Southbury man caught with loaded gun at Westchester airport, TSA says
Nationwide, 6,542 firearms were confiscated at 262 of 430 airport security checkpoints last year. 88 percent of those guns were loaded. - Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokesperson
SOUTHBURY — A local man was arrested after a loaded handgun was found Monday in his carry-on bag at Westchester County Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
TSA officers found seven bullets in the .45caliber gun at a security checkpoint, according to Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokesperson. They found the weapon when an X-ray machine alerted them to an item that need closer inspection, she said.
A Westchester County police officer removed the gun and arrested the man on weapons charges. The TSA does not release the names of travelers, Farbstein said.
This was the first gun the TSA has detected at the airport so far this year, she said. Last year, TSA officers prevented four firearms from getting through checkpoints at Westchester County Airport.
This is the second such arrest of a Connecticut resident in four days at a New York airport.
On Friday, a woman from Greenwich who was escorting a child to the gate was stopped and arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport after TSA said agents found she had a loaded handgun. The woman did not have a ticket to fly and only had a gate pass.
It was the first gun detected at JFK this year, Farbstein said.
Nationwide, 6,542 firearms were confiscated at 262 of 430 airport security checkpoints last year, she said.
Farbstein said 88 percent of those guns were loaded.