Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Pittsburgh International Airport stumbled upon a firearm in a passenger's carry-on bag at the main security checkpoint on August 12. The detected .380 caliber handgun was fortunately not loaded, but its discovery caused a brief stoppage in the checkpoint lane until law enforcement could handle the situation, as reported by the Transportation Security Administration.
The incident caused delays for other travelers and brought into sharp focus the ongoing problem of passengers attempting to bring firearms through airport security. Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport, expressed both pride in her officers' vigilance and disappointment in gun owners for repeatedly violating security protocols, with 28 firearms intercepted at the airport's checkpoints this year alone. She emphasized that "responsible gun owners always know where their firearms are, and they know not to bring them to a checkpoint," in a statement, as per a TSA press release.
The woman from Florida, who owned the firearm, faces a weapons charge and potentially steep TSA penalties, which can escalate up to $15,000. TSA's clear guidelines stipulate that firearms must be unloaded, packed in hard-sided locked cases, and declared at the airline check-in counter—the correct process to transport firearms on flights, which is thoroughly outlined on the TSA's website.
