TSA officers prevented a Beaver Falls, Pa., man from carrying this handgun through the security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport on April 9. (TSA photo)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A Beaver County, Pa., man was arrested on Sunday, April 9, after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) stopped the man with a loaded gun in his carry-on bag. The 9 mm firearm was loaded with five bullets.

When the TSA officer spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, airport police were alerted, came to the checkpoint and confiscated the weapon and arrested the man, a resident of Beaver Falls, Pa. In addition to being arrested, the man also faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty. Federal penalties for bringing weapons to the checkpoint can run as high as $15,000, depending on the circumstances.

“The spring travel season is upon us and checkpoint operations are very busy,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “We’ve seen an increase in travelers, and I am personally grateful that TSA officers here at Pittsburgh and across the country remain focused on their mission. Let this incident serve as a reminder to others who are traveling with a firearm, to take a few moments before you come to the airport to refresh your 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.”

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

Firearms are not permitted through a security checkpoint because passengers should not have access to a firearm during a flight. This even applies to travelers with concealed carry permits or are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck® program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.  Individuals who bring their gun to a security checkpoint also face a federal financial civil penalty.

This is the 6th weapon caught in a checkpoint so far in 2023 at Pittsburgh International Airport.