TSA Confiscates Loaded Gun At Pittsburgh International Airport

FINDLAY TOWNSHIP, PA — Transportation Security Administration officers caught a Beaver County man with a .380 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets including one in the chamber
at the Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoint on Thursday.

A TSA officer spotted the handgun on the checkpoint X-ray machine’s monitor as the man’s belongings were being screened. The gun was spotted inside a pocket of the man’s jacket, which he had placed in a bin.

TSA alerted the Allegheny County Police, which confiscated the weapon and questioned the Aliquippa resident. He is facing stiff Federal civil penalties for bringing a loaded gun to an airport security checkpoint.

A typical first offense for carrying a loaded handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100 and can go as
high as $13,669 depending on any mitigating circumstances, according to the TSA. That applies
to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because even though an individual may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried onto an airplane.