WASHINGTON — Police have cited a man who tried to get a loaded handgun past the security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport over the weekend.
On Saturday, Transportation Security Administration officers detected a .380 caliber gun hidden in the man’s toiletry bag as he was passing through the airport checkpoint, according to information TSA released Monday morning. The gun was loaded with five rounds, including one in the chamber, TSA says.
A TSA officer saw the gun in the man’s bag when it was passing through the X-ray machine.
Police responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the firearm and cited the man on a weapons charge. The man’s name has not yet been released.
Weapons—including firearms, firearm parts and ammunition—are not permitted in carry-on bags. Bringing a firearms to a checkpoint could lead to criminal charges from law enforcement and civil penalties from TSA of up to $11,000.
Passengers can travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. The firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-side case, locked and packed separately from ammunition. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality, TSA notes.
