TSA officials issue warning to RIC travelers

Transportation Security Administration officials are warning travelers who use Richmond International Airport that failure to check their bags for weapons could land them in a lot of legal trouble.

Officials are concerned after nearly 70 people have been caught with weapons at the airport’s security checkpoints since 2021 – including a record 24 last year alone. More concerning: almost all (92%) of the guns detected at the airport last year were loaded.

Two guns have been caught at the airport so far this year, including one Thursday morning – the same day officials held a press briefing about the matter there. (In that incident, a Chester man claimed that the bag he was carrying containing a .22-caliber gun loaded with five bullets was not his but rather his father's, as was the gun.)

“The most common excuse we hear is that someone forgot that they had their gun with them,” said Robin “Chuck” Burke, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “That’s no excuse. If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times. It’s part of being a responsible gun owner.

“Our officers are good at their jobs, but that is not the type of record we want to set. We would much rather see travelers pack their firearms properly for a flight or leave them at home.”

Nationwide last year, 6,542 firearms were stopped at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded.

If someone is found with a gun at a security checkpoint at RIC, the police are notified and take possession of the firearm, then decide whether the person should possibly be cited or arrested. Anyone stopped with a weapon also will spend some time with a TSA security inspector, who will complete a review of the incident for official reporting purposes, which could potentially result in the traveler missing his or her flight.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded and placed in a hard-sided locked case, then the locked case must be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details about how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.

TSA officials have the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who bring weapons with them to a checkpoint. Those penalties can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending upon mitigating or aggravating circumstances. The civil penalty for bringing weapons to airports recently was increased to a maximum of $15,000.

The prohibition for bringing guns to checkpoints applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits, because even though a traveler may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried onto an airplane. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck, that person will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

“The penalties are stiff for carrying a gun to a checkpoint,” Burke said. “You could face criminal penalties on top of federal civil citations that can be extremely costly. My advice is to not make the mistake of bringing your gun to the checkpoint in the first place. We’re happy to help transport your firearm. All we ask is that you pack it safely and properly for your flight.”

Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? You can download the free myTSA app, which has a “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly.