Virginia man stopped trying to bring handgun onto flight at RIC

An Augusta County, Virginia man was cited by the police after Transportation Security Administration officers at Richmond International Airport caught him with a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag Dec. 1.

TSA officers stopped the man, a resident of Swoope, Virginia, when his carry-on bag triggered an alarm in the security checkpoint X-ray unit. Upon spotting the weapon, TSA officials alerted airport police, who responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the handgun, and cited the man on a weapons violation.

It was the 20th time officials had detected a gun at a checkpoint at the airport this year, tying the total number of incidents in 2021. There were 22 such incidents in 2020, the most in at least the past seven years.

“With the Thanksgiving holiday travel season behind us, our TSA officers remain focused on their mission to continue to stop weapons from being carried through our security checkpoints,” said Robin “Chuck” Burke, TSA federal security director for the airport. “Firearms are not permitted through a security checkpoint. This also applies to travelers with concealed carry permits or are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck program. Individuals who attempt to bring their gun through a security checkpoint face a stiff federal financial civil penalty. Travelers are only permitted to bring their weapon on a trip if it is packed properly in their checked baggage.”

TSA has the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns with them at a checkpoint. This penalty applies to travelers regardless of their concealed gun carry permit status. Members of TSA PreCheck who travel with a gun in carry-on baggage will lose that privilege.  The complete list of civil penalties is posted online.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. Then 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.

Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and passengers should do their homework to make sure that they are not violating any local firearm laws. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.

TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms at airport security checkpoints nationwide in 2021. Eighty-six percent of those guns were loaded.