Transportation Security Administration officers stopped a traveler with a loaded handgun at a Pittsburgh International Airport checkpoint over the weekend, bringing the total number of guns confiscated there so far this year to 39, the agency said.
The previous Pittsburgh record of 35 guns caught in a year was set in 2019, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Security on Friday caught a McDonald man with a .380-caliber handgun loaded with six bullets in his carry-on bag, Farbstein said. Allegheny County Police confiscated the firearm.
TSA does not identify those caught with weapons in the media, Farbstein said.
“The number of travelers who continue to bring guns to our checkpoints is alarming and disturbing,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Our officers are stopping nearly four guns per month.”
The 39 guns stopped this year to date at the Findlay airport are up from 26 guns seized in 2022 and 32 guns in 2021, Farbstein said.
TSA is on track this year to surpass the record-setting 6,542 confiscated at airports across the country in 2022, Farbstein said.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, Farbstein said. The locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.
