TSA reminds residents to pack smart when traveling
Apr. 10—As families begin to look toward summer travel plans, the Transportation Security Administration and Meridian Airport Authority are reminding residents to be smart when flying and leave prohibited items at home.
Melissa Mathis, creative marketing manager for Meridian Airport Authority, said the airport and TSA want travelers to have safe and enjoyable trips. To help make that possible, she said, the two organizations are trying to educate residents about items that cannot be brought onto planes or that must be handled in particular ways.
At a media event Tuesday, Mathis said MAA and the TSA wanted to share information for those who plan on traveling with firearms.
"This event that we have today is to allow our region to know what to pack and how to pack for their upcoming event, especially if they have firearms," she said.
Monya Bates, TSA assistant federal security director for screening for Mississippi, said TSA officers have found 13 firearms at airports in the state so far this year. Of those, she said, nine were found at the Jackson airport, two in Gulfport, one at the Mid-Delta Regional airport and one at the Hattiesburg-Laurel airport.
"Over the past decade, only two passengers have brought firearms into the Meridian airport," she said.
Penalties for bringing a firearm through airport security can include up to $15,000 in fines, Bates said.
Meridian Airport Authority President Tom Williams said the vast majority of cases involving prohibited items are simply instances of residents forgetting to remove them. In the case of firearms, however, forgetting can carry a hefty cost.
"You've got to think. You've got to pay attention," he said. "And the majority of the time it's an accident that you forgot to take it out of your backpack or your bag, but the consequences are severe, up to $15,000 in fines. You will go to jail. You will have a difficult time dealing with it even though it's just an accident."
Bringing a firearm along isn't impossible, Bates said, so long as it is done in the proper manner. Guns must be unloaded and in a locked, hard-shell case in a passenger's checked baggage and must be declared to the airline, she said.
Other prohibited items such as knives, tools over seven inches long, pepper spray, tasers and gun replicas are also identified by TSA officers at airport security checkpoints, Bates said. When that happens, she said, travelers will have several options to handle the situation.
"If you actually notice that you have it prior to going through the screening, you have that opportunity to step back and say, 'Hey, I need to return something to the car,'" she said.
TSA officers find prohibited items through both x-ray screenings and physical bag searches, Bates said, and give travelers several options. Travelers have the opportunity to return items to their vehicle, pass them to a friend or relative who came to see them off or see if the airline will allow them to add the item to their checked baggage, she said.
"In the event that none of those options work for you, then we consider those items voluntarily abandoned to TSA," she said.
For more information about prohibited items, how to pack firearms or to learn about the TSA, visit tsa.gov. Travelers are also encouraged to contact their airline for assistance as airlines may have additional restrictions in place.
Contact Thomas Howard at thoward@themeridianstar.com
