2nd Loaded Gun Found In Traveler's Carry-On Items Within A Week: TSA

ARLINGTON, VA — For the second time in less than a week, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police have confiscated a firearm and cited someone for bringing a loaded handgun to a security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

On Thursday, Transportation Security Administration officers discovered a 9 mm handgun loaded with 12 bullets among an Annandale woman’s carry-on items. TSA notified the MWAA police, who confiscated the weapon and cited the woman on a federal weapons charge, according to TSA.

The woman faces a potential penalty of up to $15,000.

Not only was this the second person to have brought a loaded firearm to a National Airport checkpoint in the last week, it’s the fifth weapon TSA officers found in a traveler’s carry-on items for the month of October.

“Bringing a gun to an airport security checkpoint on Halloween or at any time of the year is no joke,” said John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Loaded guns are deadly weapons and present a threat. People who own firearms need to be more cognizant of where and when they are carrying their weapon. It is no secret that guns cannot be carried onto an aircraft. If you own a firearm, it is critically important that you always know where it is, and you know that it is not among the items in your carry-on bag when you come to an airport. That is part of being a responsible gun owner.”

People are allowed to travel with their handguns, but the handguns must be properly stored in their checked baggage and declared at check-in. In addition, handguns must be stored unloaded in a hard-locked case, with ammunition stored separately. The hard-locked case must be brought to the airline check-in window, where it will be checked with the traveler's baggage.

TSA has more information available online for people traveling with firearms.

To transport a firearm for a flight, it must be unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided case and declared at the airline counter so it can be placed in the belly of the aircraft with the checked baggage.

Including the handgun found on Thursday, TSA officers have detected a total of 34 firearms at Washington National in 2024. Thirty-nine firearms were stopped at the airport in 2023, which was 10 more than the previous year.