Another Gun Seized At Pittsburgh International Airport

FINDLAY TOWNSHIP, PA — Transportation Security Administration officers at Pittsburgh International Airport intercepted a gun from a Florida man who was going through the security checkpoint on Tuesday.

The 9mm handgun was packed with a box of ammunition.

The weapon was the sixth firearm seized at the airport this year. In 2024, TSA officers intercepted 42 guns at security checkpoints, the most of any airport in the state.

“It looks like this individual missed a critical step when preparing to fly with his firearm,” Gerado Spero, TSA's federal security director for Pennnsylvania, said in a statement.

“The proper way to transport a firearm for a flight is to make sure it is unloaded. Then pack it in a locked hard-sided case. He seems to have done that; however, he failed to take the case to the airline check-in counter and declare that he wanted to fly with it. That was the critical missing step because that’s when the airline representative will make sure it is transported in the belly of the plane where nobody has access to it during the flight.”

Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty of up to $15,000 depending on the specific weapon and the circumstances.