(Scypre.com) – A man from King George, Virginia, encountered an alarming situation at Reagan National Airport involving a loaded handgun found in his carry-on bag. When passing through a TSA checkpoint in Arlington, Virginia, last Thursday, the X-ray equipment detected the firearm, prompting a thorough inspection of his bag. Subsequently, TSA confiscated the gun.
In the TSA’s official statement, it was revealed that the man attributed the presence of the weapon in his bag to his wife, claiming that she had packed the carry-on bag without his knowledge of the firearm being inside.
Consequently, the man received a citation and potentially faces a civil penalty of up to $15,000 from TSA due to the incident.
John Busch, TSA’s federal security director at Reagan National, expressed disappointment over the persisting issue of passengers unknowingly bringing loaded guns to security checkpoints. He emphasized the importance of starting the packing process with an empty bag to minimize the risk of unauthorized items being inadvertently included.
Busch also underscored that passengers should personally pack their bags to avoid surprises during security checks, echoing concerns about the recent incident in which a man from King George, Virginia, had unknowingly carried a loaded firearm.
He further noted the concerning trend of firearm interceptions at Reagan National Airport, emphasizing the lack of a valid excuse for not being aware of carrying a loaded firearm.
Busch reiterated the TSA’s regulations, stating that passengers are only permitted to transport firearms in their checked bags, which must be unloaded and securely stored in a hard-sided locked case. Additionally, the TSA emphasized that the locked case containing the firearm should be checked in with the airline at the designated check-in counter.
Providing a troubling statistic, the TSA revealed that from 2018 to 2023, they have intercepted 128 firearms at Reagan National Airport checkpoints. The numbers show a concerning increase, with 16 firearms confiscated in 2018, followed by 14 in 2019, 10 in 2020, 30 in 2021, 29 in 2022, and 28 as of September 21, 2023.
Highlighting the severity of the issue, the TSA disclosed that in the previous year, they discovered 6,542 firearms at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints across the U.S., with 88% of those firearms being loaded. This year, the TSA has already confiscated 4,000 handguns at various TSA checkpoints across the U.S.