TSA stops Pittsburgh woman from bringing loaded gun onto plane

Transportation Security Administration officers stopped a loaded gun from getting onto a plane at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday morning.

TSA officials said its officers detected the 9mm gun, loaded with 10 bullets, inside a Pittsburgh woman’s carry-on bag at the main security checkpoint.

While officers were handling the situation, this brought the checkpoint lane to a stop during the peak travel time of the day.

“Travelers need to pay more attention to the items that they have inside their carry-on bags,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Travelers are responsible for the contents of their carry-on bags. In addition, responsible gun owners know where their firearms are at all times and they know not to bring them to a security checkpoint. Bringing guns to checkpoints is a serious security violation. This traveler can expect that TSA will issue her a costly Federal civil penalty.”

Keys-Turner praised the TSA officers for their good catch. “Early morning is the busiest period of travel that we see here at Pittsburgh and when someone brings an illegal or prohibited item to the checkpoint, it slows down all of the other travelers. I commend our officers for remaining vigilant and staying focused on the mission during this very busy time.”

Passengers can travel with guns 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 .

Civil penalties for bringing a weapon into a checkpoint can reach up to $15,000, depending on the specific weapon and the circumstances.

So far in 2024, TSA officers have stopped 23 guns from getting on planes at Pittsburgh International Airport.

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