Gun Loaded With 12 Bullets Found In Carry-On Bag At Reagan National

ARLINGTON, VA — A Virginia man tried to bring a handgun loaded with 12 bullets onto a flight Wednesday morning at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, but was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers.

The 9mm gun was caught as the man entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit issued an alert about the man’s carry-on bag.

TSA officials notified the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, who confiscated the gun and cited the man, a resident of Gainesville in Prince William County, on a weapons charge.

“It is only the fourth day of 2023 and already our officers have prevented two individuals from bringing loaded guns through the security checkpoint and onto their flights,” John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, said in a statement Wednesday. “Let’s hope that the frequency level of people bringing guns to our checkpoints does not continue this new year.”

READ ALSO: Here's How Many Guns TSA Seized So Far In 2022 At DC's 3 Airports

Across the U.S., TSA officers stopped a record number of travelers from boarding airplanes with guns in their carry-on luggage in 2022, according to the agency. Reagan National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport both reported jumps in gun seizures in 2022.

A record 33 guns were confiscated at Reagan National Airport in 2022, up from the previous record of 29 guns confiscated in 2021. At Dulles Airport, 30 guns were confiscated by TSA officers in 2022, up from 23 in 2021.

People who own firearms have the responsibility to know where they are and should know they cannot go through an airport security checkpoint, Busch said.

In addition to the citation by airport police, the Gainesville man faces a financial civil penalty; the penalty for carrying a weapon was recently increased to a maximum of $15,000.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.