TSA nabs 34th gun of year at Pittsburgh airport

Pittsburgh International Airport is one weapon away from tying the record for most guns confiscated in a single year, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials announced Thursday.

TSA officers stopped a Greensburg man early Thursday from carrying a loaded, .22 caliber pistol onto a flight at Findlay-based Pittsburgh International Airport, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. The gun was loaded with five bullets, and the man stored five additional bullets in his carry-on bag.

Farbstein did not name the Greensburg man. She also did not immediately return a call Thursday morning seeking comment.

The gun confiscation, following a week where three handguns were caught, brings Pittsburgh’s total number of guns stopped by TSA officers at the airport to 34, Farbstein said. The single-year record of 35 was set in 2019.

“Once again I find myself needing to point out that there is absolutely no excuse for bringing a gun to one of our checkpoints,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage and responsible gun owners know that.

Anyone trying to bring a gun through a security checkpoint face a stiff federal financial penalty that could run thousands of dollars, Keys-Turner said.

“Make no mistake, we take this very seriously and there is a high cost for gun owners who think that they can waltz through a checkpoint and onto a plane with a gun,” she said.

TSA confiscated 26 guns at Pittsburgh International Airport in 2022 and 32 guns in 2021, Farbstein said. The 2020 total? 21 guns.

The federal agency also is on pace to set gun-confiscation records nationally, Farbstein said.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at airport security checkpoints nationwide, she said. In the first nine months of 2023, TSA officers detected more than 5,000 guns at checkpoints nationwide which “is on track to surpass the record-setting number of guns caught in 2022.”

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. That locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.