A Prince William County, Virginia, woman was caught with a loaded handgun by Transportation Security Administration officers at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday.
In a news release, the TSA said the Dumfries woman tried to bring a 9 mm pistol loaded with seven rounds onto her flight.
“The detection of the gun yesterday was the 20th caught at our checkpoints so far this year, which now doubles the number that were caught in 2020,” said Scott T. Johnson, the TSA federal security director for Reagan National Airport. “This is a disturbing trend that we would much prefer to see go in the opposite direction.”
The gun was spotted in an X-ray machine at a security checkpoint. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police were alerted, the handgun was confiscated and the woman was cited on a weapons charge.
Travelers are allowed to travel with firearms if they’re in checked baggage, properly packed and declared at the ticket counter. The guns can’t be loaded, and they have to be packed in a hard-sided, locked case separately from ammunition.
More information on traveling with firearms can be found on the TSA website.
The civil penalties for bringing a gun to a checkpoint are also on the TSA website.
