Gun confiscated at the Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoint for third straight day
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - For the third straight day, a gun has been confiscated at the Pittsburgh International Airport.
An Ohio man was found to have a .38 caliber pistol in his carry-on bag, and it was loaded with six bullets.
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"At this point, it's an epidemic in terms of the frequency in which we are seeing travelers bringing guns to our checkpoint," said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA's Federal Security Director for the airport. "When someone purchases an online ticket, they are required to acknowledge that they have read a screen, which states guns are prohibited. We have large signs in the terminal that indicate no guns are permitted. And there is a tablet at the checkpoint that offers a final warning that guns are not permitted. It is absolutely irresponsible of these gun-toting individuals to ignore the warnings over and over again. The result in these cases was that the two individuals on Wednesday and Thursday who did not have proper firearm permits were each arrested by the police. The man who was caught today was not arrested by police because he had the proper permit. However, all three face a stiff federal financial civil penalty that will cost them thousands of dollars."
While the Ohio man did have the proper permits to carry a weapon, he did not follow the proper procedures to travel with a firearm.
This now adds to the already record-setting number of guns confiscated at Pittsburgh International Airport, which is now 43.
The next closest was 2019 when 35 guns were confiscated at the security checkpoints.
Travelers are permitted to travel with firearms but only in a checked bag and if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. That case also should be taken to airline check-in to be declared.
You can read the TSA's full instructions on how to travel with a firearm on their website at this link.
So far this year, nationwide, TSA has confiscated more than 6,000 guns at checkpoints and is on pace to exceed the record of 6,542 confiscated at checkpoints in 2022.
