Loaded Gun Confiscated From Florida Man At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — A Transportation Security Administration officer prevented a Florida man on Monday from bringing a loaded handgun with him on a flight leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington.

The man had placed the .380 caliber gun, loaded with six bullets, in his carry-on bag.

An X-ray unit alerted the TSA officer to check the carry-on bag, which was opened by police for a closer inspection and the gun was confiscated. The man told officials that he forgot that he had the loaded gun with him.

Police cited the man on a weapons charge, according to the TSA. A civil penalty for carrying weapons can reach a maximum of $15,000.

“Claiming that you forgot that you had a gun with you is inexcusable. Responsible gun owners must know where their guns are at all times,” John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for Reagan National Airport, said in a statement. “It is concerning that most people who are stopped at TSA checkpoints with a firearm tell us that they forgot that they had it with them.”

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only 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.

So far in 2023, 17 guns have been caught at security checkpoints by TSA officers at Reagan National Airport. A record 30 guns were caught at Reagan National Airport in 2021. Twenty-nine guns were caught by security officers at the airport in 2022.

Nationwide, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 airport security checkpoints in 2022. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded, the TSA said.