This firearm was intercepted by TSA officers at a Philadelphia International Airport checkpoint on August 5 belonging to a Lansdale man, police said.
The incident occurred Monday, according to the TSA.
A Lansdale man was cited by Tinicum Township Police in Delaware County Monday at Philadelphia International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officers found a loaded 9mm handgun in a carry-on item.
The TSA said it detected a firearm among the defendant’s bags at one of the airport security checkpoints. The 9mm gun was loaded with 12 bullets, authorities said.
The firearm was intercepted when the checkpoint X-ray machine alerted a TSA officer of the gun inside the carry-on bag, police said.
Tinicum Township Police responded, confiscated the firearm and cited the man on a weapons charge.
“Bringing a loaded firearm to an airport security checkpoint introduces an unnecessary security risk to our officers and to fellow travelers,” said Christine Assili, TSA’s Deputy Federal Security Director for the airport. “We have no issues with people who pack their firearms properly for a flight. Bringing a loaded handgun to our checkpoints isn’t the way to do it. The proper way is to pack your unloaded firearm in a locked hard-sided case.”
Assili said passengers then take the case to their airline check-in counter and declare that they want to travel with it.
“The airline will make sure it is transported in the belly of the plane so that nobody has access to it during the flight. It’s a fairly simple process. Instead, this individual, a resident of Lansdale faces a federal financial civil penalty in addition to having to deal with the criminal citation issued by the police,” she said.
Authorities did not publicly release the name of the defendant.
According to the TSA, bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to individuals who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a gun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances, per the Administration. This applies to individuals with or without concealed gun carry permits because a concealed carry permit does not allow a firearm to be carried through a checkpoint.
The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
According to TSA data, as of Monday, there were 26 firearms caught at the TSA checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport. Last year, that number hit 45 firearms, the highest ever for seven years.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
