Virginia man cited by police after TSA prevents him from carrying loaded gun onto Richmond flight
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Transportation Security Administration officers at Richmond International Airport prevented a man from South Prince George, Va., from carrying his handgun onto a flight June 8. The 9mm handgun was loaded with eight bullets.
TSA officers stopped the man when his carry-on bag triggered an alarm in the security checkpoint X-ray unit. It was the seventh handgun that TSA officers have detected at the security checkpoints at the airport so far this year, following 20 such occurrences last year.
Upon spotting the weapon, TSA alerted airport police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the handgun and cited the man on a weapons violation. The man told officials that he forgot that he had his loaded gun with him.
TSA has the right to issue civil penalties to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can stretch to thousands of dollars, depending upon the circumstances. Penalties apply to people with or without concealed gun carry permits, because those permits do not allow firearms to be brought onto planes.
A complete list of civil penalties is posted online.
TSA PreCheck members who incur the penalties also will lose their PreCheck privileges.
TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. Travelers also should contact their airlines, which may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
