Ashburn Man Caught With Loaded Handgun At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — An Ashburn man was stopped from bringing a loaded handgun onto his flight Thursday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The man, Ramy Hassan, 24, had a 9mm handgun loaded with 13 bullets, TSA said.

The gun was caught as the man entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit alerted TSA officers to take a closer look inside the carry-on bag.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the gun and cited the man on a weapons charge. The man told officials that he forgot that he had his loaded gun with him, TSA said.

The penalty for carrying weapons can reach a maximum of $15,000.

The gun was the 34th that TSA officers at Reagan National Airport have detected at one of the airport's checkpoints so far this year, which is the most guns caught in a single year. The previous record was 30 guns detected at Reagan National's security checkpoints in 2021.

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