Spotsylvania Woman With Loaded Gun Stopped By Officers At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — A woman from Spotsylvania County was stopped from bringing a loaded handgun onto her flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Monday morning, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The woman's .380 caliber gun, loaded with five bullets, was caught as the woman entered a security checkpoint at Reagan National Airport. An X-ray unit alerted TSA officers, who then discovered the gun inside a zippered pouch inside the purse.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the gun and cited the woman on a weapons charge. The woman told officials she carries the gun for protection and forgot that she had her gun with her, the TSA said.

In addition to the citation by airport police, the woman also faces a financial civil penalty. Penalties for carrying weapons into an airport checkpoint were recently increased to a maximum of $15,000.

This is the 10th gun to be confiscated at security checkpoints at Reagan National Airport in 2023. TSA officers confiscated 29 guns at the airport in 2022, and a record 30 were confiscated in 2021, according to the TSA.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case should then be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded, TSA said.

RELATED: Alexandria Man's Loaded Handgun Confiscated At Reagan National Airport