Man arrested by police after TSA stops him with handgun at Lehigh Valley International Airport security checkpoint

Local Press Release
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
TSA officers detected this handgun at the Lehigh Valley International Airport checkpoint on Dec. 1. (TSA photo)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. –  A Texas resident was arrested by police after Transportation Security Administration officers prevented him from bringing his handgun onto his flight today (Dec. 1). The 9mm gun was not loaded, however it was accompanied by a gun magazine that was loaded with 15 bullets.

TSA officers spotted the handgun in the man’s carry-on bag.   

When the TSA officer spotted the gun on the checkpoint X-ray monitor, the police were alerted and confiscated the gun.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.

TSA reserves the right to issue a $3,000 to $13,910 civil penalty to travelers who have loaded guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances. This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because even though an individual may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried onto an airplane. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

Guns caught by TSA at the Lehigh Valley International Airport checkpoints 2017 to 2021

Year

2017

2018

2019

2020*

2021*

(As of 12/1/21)

Guns caught

4

 7

1

3

7

*Significantly fewer travelers due to the pandemic.

Nationwide, TSA officers detected 3,257 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints last year, although the total number of passengers screened at airport checkpoints across the country fell by 500 million compared to 2019 due to the pandemic. The result was that twice as many firearms per million passengers screened were detected at checkpoints in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2020, TSA caught approximately 10 firearms per million passengers as compared to about five firearms per million passengers in 2019.  Of the guns caught by TSA in 2020, about 83 percent were loaded.

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