3 Men Stopped From Bringing Guns On Flights At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — Three men were stopped Friday morning from bringing guns on their flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

At 6:40 a.m. on Friday, TSA officers stopped Mark Torres, 33, of Rockville who had a 9mm handgun that was loaded with 16 bullets and was packed alongside a gun magazine that was loaded with 17 additional bullets, according to officials.

Later Friday morning, at 8:50 a.m., TSA officers stopped Will Randall Diaczenko, 33, of Pine Mountain, Georgia, who was in possession of a 9mm handgun, which was not loaded.

On Friday evening, the third man, from Stafford, was stopped with a 9mm handgun loaded with 15 bullets.

The guns were caught as the men entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit alerted the TSA to take a closer look inside the carry-on bags.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the guns and cited the men on weapons charges.

The three guns marked the 35th, 36th and 37th guns that TSA officers at Reagan National Airport have detected at the checkpoints so far this year, which is the most guns caught in a single year at the airport. The previous high number of firearms stopped at Reagan National Airport in a single year was 30, which took place in 2021.

"Today, one of our busiest days of the holiday season, we unfortunately had two passengers bring their firearms to our TSA security checkpoints," John Busch, TSA's federal security director for Reagan National Airport, said in a statement. "Our officers remain engaged and alert and caught these weapons before they could be brought to the aircraft."

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage. Firearms must be unloaded and then packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case must be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared, according to the TSA.