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A loaded handgun fell from a passenger’s laptop bag as he unzipped it at a security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reporting that the Arizona man was arrested on weapons charges and the gun was confiscated.
It goes without saying, but passengers are not allowed to bring guns through airport security. There are stiff federal civil penalties of up to $15,000 for noncompliance. Members of TSA PreCheck® will also lose their membership in this program if found to be carrying a gun regardless of concealed carry or other permits. This is the 27th gun that has been seized in Pittsburgh so far this year (up from 26 in 2022 for the full year). 6,542 firearms were detected at 262 airport security checkpoints nationwide last year and 88% of them were loaded.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms, but they must be unloaded and packed in a hard-sided case. These must also be declared and checked. The TSA has details on how to properly travel with a gun on its website.
Karen Keys-Turner, the TSA’s Federal Security Director for Pittsburgh International Airport, said:
There is absolutely no excuse for bringing a firearm to one of our checkpoints. Travelers are responsible for the items that they have in their possession. I strongly encourage gun owners to take a few moments before they come to the airport to refresh their familiarity with the proper procedures on how to pack a gun for a flight. Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage. Responsible gun owners know this.”
Anthony’s Take: Guns do not belong on planes. Excuses of not knowing that or forgetting that you were carrying a gun will not fly (no pun intended). Here is an example of the TSA doing a good job of keeping passengers safe.
(Featured Image Credit: TSA.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
2 comments
If the penalties were sufficiently severe then people would suddenly remember that they are carrying a gun at an airport security checkpoint. I bet a mandatory $5,000 fine with a month in jail and 20 years on the no-fly list for trying to fly with a gun would do wonders for people’s memories. It’s sad that we need to implement such draconian measures to stop some of these idiots (we’re not catching them all after all) but the current system is simply not effective.
I agree with Christian. A mandatory fine and no permanent nofly list would jog memories