BWI Security Finds Gun In Joppa Man's Bag: TSA

LINTHICUM, MD — Security stopped a Harford County man with a handgun at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on May 14, authorities said. A Transportation Security Administration officer spotted the gun in a carry-on bag as it passed through an X-ray machine, a press release noted.

TSA added that it turned the accused Joppa man over to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, who arrested him on gun charges. Officers identified the suspect as 25-year-old Andonios Kounisis. Authorities clarified that Kounisis faces charges of:

• Wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun upon his person
• Carrying an unauthorized weapon that is prohibited in airports

A TSA spokesperson explained that the 9 mm handgun was not loaded. The accused man said he forgot that he had the gun on him, authorities informed. TSA does not think he had any intention of using the weapon.

"Claiming that you forgot that you had a gun with you is inexcusable," said Andrea Mishoe, TSA’s federal security director for Maryland. "If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times."

TSA indicated that this was the eighth gun caught at BWI this year. The agency reported that it stopped 13 firearms in 2020.

Those numbers are down from 2019 when TSA advised that it spotted 27 guns at the airport. BWI has seen fewer travelers since March 2020 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, however. Passenger traffic has started to rebound this spring.

TSA mentioned that it snagged more than 3,257 guns at airports around the country last year, averaging nearly nine per day. A TSA report wrote that 83 percent of those guns were loaded.

"Guns are not allowed to be carried onto airplanes," Mishoe said. "Period."

Concealed carry permits do not allow passengers to travel through airport security with guns. Travelers can fly with a firearm, but only if they follow the correct steps.

To fly with a gun, it must be unloaded, packed in a checked bag and declared at the luggage drop. The owner must pack the gun in a hard-sided, locked suitcase.

Travelers are usually fined $4,100 the first time they bring a gun to a TSA checkpoint. The penalties can reach $13,669, depending on the circumstances.

TSA explains how to properly travel with a weapon at this link. Passengers can also call their airline for more information.

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RELATED:

• Loaded Gun Caught At BWI, Suspect Arrested: Officials

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