Clarion County woman caught with loaded gun at Pittsburgh International Airport

WPXI.com News Staff
·2 min read
8

A Clarion County woman was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers at Pittsburgh International Airport on Sunday when they detected a loaded handgun among her belongings. The .38 caliber revolver was loaded with six bullets.

“We are seeing way too many travelers bringing their guns to our security checkpoints. It’s as if there is a gun epidemic. Yet there is absolutely no excuse for bringing a firearm to one of our checkpoints,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security director for the airport in a news release. “Travelers are responsible for the items that they have in their possession. I strongly encourage gun owners to take a few moments before they come to the airport to take a good look inside any carry-on bags that they plan to bring to the airport — backpacks, roller bags, messenger bags, handbags, briefcases, duffle bags, and so on — to ensure that they do not have a firearm or ammunition inside. If they want to travel with their firearm, they should refresh their familiarity with the proper procedures on how to pack a gun for a flight. Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage. Responsible gun owners know this.”

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. 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.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. So far this year, TSA has stopped more than 4,000 guns at security checkpoints across the country. At Pittsburgh airport, 31 guns have been stopped.

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