The Transportation Security Administration reported that its officials stopped a woman from boarding a flight on December 24, 2023. The officers stopped the local woman at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with a loaded handgun in her carry-on luggage. Consequently, they stopped her from boarding the plane.
According to the TSA, officers working at the security checkpoint at the airport in Washington, D.C., saw the weapon. They detected the firearm during an X-ray scan and alerted the TSA to check the passenger’s carry-on items more closely. Hence, they found a 9mm gun loaded with six bullets.
Consequently, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confiscated the gun and cited the woman on a weapons charge. “Bringing a gun to an airport security checkpoint was no way to enter the holiday,” John Busch, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport, said in a statement.
Busch condemned the local woman’s actions, saying it was a “naughty” way to travel. The airport’s TSA Federal Security Director added that traveling with a loaded weapon was not appropriate. In addition, Busch said it could lead to pressing security issues if the checkpoint officers didn’t discover the weapon.
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“There’s naughty, and there’s nice at this time of year,” Busch said. “The nice way to transport your firearm is to make sure it is unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case,” Busch added that the right way is for airport passengers to declare their weapons at the airline check-in counter.
However, he noted that “the naughty way is to bring it to a checkpoint.” In addition, Busch said that the woman faces a potential civil penalty of thousands of dollars. According to reports, fines for carrying weapons vary and are very high. The maximum civil penalty for bringing weapons to an airport security checkpoint is $15,000.
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According to the TSA, the unidentified woman’s incident isn’t the first in the airport in 2023. The local woman’s firearm marked the 39th confiscated at the airport in 2023. Consequently, 2023 recorded the most firearms confiscations at Reagan National, beating the airport’s previous record of 30 firearms in 2021.
Also, in October 2023, the TSA released third-quarter data. The data showed a spike in travelers bringing loaded firearms to U.S. airport security checkpoints. In addition, the data predicted that 2023 will surpass the 2022 record of more than 6,500 firearms intercepted.
Similarly, the TSA prevented a Montpelier woman from boarding a plane at Richmond International Airport. According to reports, the TSA officers discovered a gun in the woman’s carry-on luggage at the security checkpoint. This time, the firearm, a .38-caliber handgun, was not loaded.
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However, she packed it alongside a magazine loaded with ten rounds. Like the Washington D.C. woman, the officers cited her on a weapons charge. The weapon was the 17th firearm caught by the TSA at the Richmond Airport in 2023. TSA’s federal security director for the Richmond airport, Robin Burke, condemned the act.
“It is disappointing to see travelers continue to bring their guns to our checkpoints,” he said. “In doing so, they create a potentially dangerous situation through their actions.” Burke added that “responsible gun owners” know not to bring their firearms to a checkpoint.
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