TSA Stops 2 Handguns, Extends Record At Dulles Airport To 28 In 2024

DULLES, VA — A week after Transportation Security Administration officers broke the record for detecting the most firearms in a single year at Washington Dulles International Airport, they extended the record by finding two handguns among a traveler’s carry-on items.

On Monday, the X-ray unit at the airport’s security checkpoint alerted TSA officers to check the carry-on items of a Waterford, Virginia man. When they did, they discovered two.380 caliber handguns with six bullets each in the man’s shoulder bag, according to TSA.

On Dec. 9, TSA officers at Dulles Airport detected the 26th firearm of 2024 among a traveler’s carry-on items, breaking the previous record of 25 set in 2022. The two handguns detected on Monday extend that record to 28 in a single calendar year.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the Wateford man’s guns and cited him on a weapons charge, before letting him continue on his way.

“It’s bad enough when a traveler shows up with a single gun in his carry-on bag, but to be toting around two loaded guns in an airport is inexcusable,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Monday’s guns were the 27th and 28th firearms that our team has intercepted at our checkpoints, which is the most we have intercepted in a single year.”

At Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, TSA tied the record on Dec. 9 for the firearms stopped at airport checkpoints. Officers found the .380 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets in the West Virginia woman’s carry-on items. This was the 39th firearm TSA officers detected at the airport this year, which ties the 2023 record for the most guns removed from carry-on items at the airport in a single year, according to the TSA.

“Travelers are responsible for the contents of their carry-on bags, so it is vitally important to know that you do not have anything illegal or prohibited inside,” Johnson said. “To help ensure that there is nothing inside, it is a best practice to start with an empty bag. For example, if you don’t know what you may have thrown in your backpack last week, empty it completely and start to pack it from scratch before heading to the airport.”

How To Travel Legally With A Handgun

Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, with ammunition stored separately. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter, where it will be checked with the traveler's baggage.

The TSA has details online that explain how to properly travel with a firearm.
Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil fines for bringing a gun into a checkpoint can reach $14,950 per violation per person, depending on mitigating circumstances.

The ban on guns on airplanes applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits, as well as passengers who are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.

Fines for violations start at $390 and increase from there; a complete list of civil penalties is posted online.