Richmond woman arrested after bringing gun to RIC
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A Richmond woman was arrested by police at Richmond International Airport June 11 after a Transportation Security Administration officer found a loaded gun in the traveler’s carry-on bag.
The .38 caliber handgun was loaded with five bullets. A TSA officer who was staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitor detected the handgun inside the woman’s carry-on bag as it entered the X-ray machine.
TSA officials notified the airport police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the gun and arrested the woman on weapons charges.
It was the fifth firearm that TSA officers have caught at the airport so far this calendar year. In 2018, TSA stopped 14 guns at the airport’s checkpoints.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality.
Nationwide last year, 4,239 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country – an average of about 11.6 firearms per day, approximately a 7-percent increase nationally in firearm discoveries in 2017. Eighty-six percent of firearms detected at checkpoints last year were loaded and about one-third had a bullet in the chamber, according to the TSA.
Anyone who brings firearms to the checkpoint is subject to possible criminal charges from law enforcement. Even travelers with concealed firearm permits are not allowed to bring guns onto airplanes in their carry-on bags. If the person is a TSA Pre-Check member, he or she could lose the Pre-Check status. In addition, TSA has the authority to assess civil penalties of as much as $13,333 for weapons violations. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $3,900.
TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website at https://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/firearms-and-ammunition. Travelers also should contact their airlines, which may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
