An Alexandria resident was stopped in the security line at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Monday after attempting to bring a 9 mm handgun in his carry-on luggage, the Transportation Security Administration says.
Authorities from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority arrived on scene shortly after, according to the TSA report. They subsequently confiscated the weapon, which was unloaded. The individual was then issued a citation.
The incident marks 29th time this year that a gun has been confiscated at Reagan National, just one shy of last year’s 30 incidents and a number that equals the sum of 2017 and 2018 combined.
The 28th incident occurred less than two weeks ago on November 18, when authorities arrested a California resident attempting to carry a .40-caliber handgun, which was loaded with 14 rounds and had one in the chamber, through security in his carry-on.
“Travelers need to do their part to help ensure that they have an efficient checkpoint experience,” the airport’s TSA Federal Security Director John Busch said following the incident Monday. “An important part of that is knowing that there are no illegal or prohibited items among your carry-on possessions. If you are a gun owner, make sure that firearm is not in any of your carry-on bags.”
According to TSA rules and regulations, passengers are allowed to travel with firearms only if they are stored in checked baggage and properly declared during the check-in process. The TSA lists guidelines on how to travel with firearms on its website.
Firearm laws vary from place to place, so TSA officials recommend that passengers “do their homework to make sure that they are not violating any local firearm laws.” Any passengers unsure if a particular item is acceptable in a carry-on bag are encouraged to use the “What can I bring?” feature on the free myTSA app.
Across the country last year, TSA officials detected nearly 6,000 firearms carried by passengers in their carry-on bags. The majority of those, about 86 percent were loaded, according to TSA data.
“We are in the middle of the busiest travel period of the year, and our TSA officers are screening travelers as efficiently as possible,” Busch said. “Travelers can help us by maintaining awareness of all the contents of their carry-on bags to ensure that they do not have any prohibited items inside — especially firearms.”
Feature image, Robert Wilson/stock.adobe.com
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