TSA Confiscates Loaded Handgun From Man At Philadelphia International Airport
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Transportation Security Administration stopped a Philadelphia man from carrying a loaded .38 caliber handgun onto his flight at Philadelphia International Airport last week, the government agency announced on Monday. The Philadelphia resident attempted to get on the plane with his handgun loaded with five bullets last Friday.
"This man told us that he did not know that he had to check his gun with the airline for transport," Gerardo Spero, TSA's Federal Security Director for the airport, said in a release.
Once TSA officers spotted the revolver in the security checkpoint X-ray machine, they contacted Philadelphia police. Officers then confiscated the weapon and cited the man, who now faces a financial civil penalty for carrying his loaded gun to a TSA security checkpoint, according to the release.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter, the TSA says.