PHILADELPHIA – Transportation Security Administration officers stopped two travelers, each with a loaded handgun in their carry-on bag at security checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport yesterday, each resulting in the arrest of the passengers.
A Phoenixville, Pa., woman was caught with a .38 caliber revolver loaded with two bullets in a carry-on bag and a man from Bel Air, Md., was caught with a 9mm handgun in his backpack. His gun was loaded with eight bullets, including one in the chamber. The incidents were not related.
In each instance when the TSA officer spotted the guns in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the Philadelphia Police were notified, confiscated the weapons and arrested the individuals. TSA forwarded the incidents to be followed up with the issuance of a federal financial civil penalty—a penalty for carrying a weapon that was recently increased to a maximum of $15,000. 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 into an airport or onto an airplane. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges for five years.
TSA officers are good at their jobs and are focused on their mission—especially during the busy holiday travel period.
Travelers are allowed to transport their firearms as checked baggage to be transported in the belly of the plane so that nobody has access to a gun during a flight. Checked firearms must be unloaded, placed in a hard-sided case, locked and packed separately from ammunition. Then it must be declared at the airline check-in counter to be transported in the belly of the aircraft where nobody has access to it during a flight.
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 can delay travelers from getting to their gates.
TSA firearms caught at PHL Airport checkpoints, 2017 to 2022
|
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 (as of 12/22/22) |
|
Guns caught at PHL checkpoints |
35 |
25 |
20 |
26 |
39 |
44 |
Nationwide, TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints in 2021. Of the guns caught by TSA last year, about 86 percent were loaded. TSA has already surpassed the 2021 figure and expects to detect approximately 6,600 firearms at security checkpoints across the country by the end of 2022, which will be a new record.