TSA confiscates loaded 9mm at Pittsburgh International Airport checkpoint
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Transportation Security Administration officers on Monday stopped a Washington County man who tried to bring a handgun onto a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport.
It was the 22nd gun confiscated at the airport so far this year.
TSA officers found a loaded 9mm gun in the Canonsburg man’s carry-on bag and alerted Allegheny County Police, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. Farbstein said it is TSA policy not to identify passengers stopped with guns. County police did not return a message.
The man could face a civil penalty of up to $15,000, TSA said.
“We are starting to see the makings of an epidemic of guns showing up at our airport,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director at Pittsburgh International. “Our officers are doing a tremendous job staying vigilant while screening travelers during this peak summer travel period.”
Passengers are permitted to travel with a gun only in checked baggage if it is unloaded and packed in a hard, locked case, Farbstein said. Then the locked case should be taken to an airline check-in counter to be declared.
The airport is on pace to surpass the number of confiscated guns in each of the past two years. Officers confiscated 26 last year and 32 in 2021.