Passengers caught with 2 loaded guns at Pittsburgh International Airport

Justin Vellucci | Monday, March 27, 2023 3:19 p.m.

Courtesy of TSA

This handgun was caught at a Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoint on Friday.

The Transportation Security Administration said officers prevented two Pennsylvania residents from bringing handguns in carry-on bags through a security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday.

The weapons were the fourth and fifth guns to be stopped at the Findlay airport this year.

A Pittsburgh man was caught with a loaded .40-caliber handgun, and a Wexford man was stopped with a loaded 9 mm handgun, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.

“It is vital that travelers remember that their guns are not permitted through any airport security checkpoint,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport.

She added: “In all instances, if you bring a gun to a checkpoint, it will result in a serious conversation with the police, possible criminal charges and a hefty federal financial civil penalty that could cost you into the thousands of dollars.”

Passengers can travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, Farbstein said.

The potential fine for carrying a weapon through an airport checkpoint was recently increased to up to $15,000, Farbstein said.

Last year, officers caught 6,542 firearms at 262 airport security checkpoints nationwide, and 88% of the weapons were loaded, officials have said. Twenty-six guns were caught at Pittsburgh International Airport in 2022, down from 32 in 2021.