TSA at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport stops man with loaded gun

LATROBE, Pa. –Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport prevented a Blair County, Pa., man from bringing a loaded handgun onto his flight this morning, Thursday, May 5.      

The man was caught with a 9mm handgun loaded with six bullets. He told officials that the gun belonged to his wife, with whom he was travelling. The couple reside in Hollidaysburg, Pa.

When the TSA officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the police were alerted and did not allow the couple to travel with the gun. 

“Part of being a responsible gun owner is knowing where your firearm is at all times,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Not knowing that you’re carrying a deadly weapon is inexcusable.”

TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty of up to $13,900 to individuals who bring weapons with them to a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating or aggravating 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. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

Travelers are allowed to transport their firearms as checked baggage if they are properly packed and declared at their airline ticket counter to be transported in the belly of the plane with checked baggage. Checked firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and travelers should check into firearm laws before they decide to travel with their guns. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.

When an individual shows up at a checkpoint with a firearm, the checkpoint lane comes to a standstill until the police resolve the incident. Guns at checkpoints delay travelers from getting to their gates.

Nationwide, TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints last year. Of the guns caught by TSA in 2022, about 86 percent were loaded.