Transportation Security Administration agents at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport made two seizures of loaded handguns from passengers in recent days.
A man from Capitol Heights, Maryland, attempted to bring a .32-caliber revolver loaded with six rounds onto a plane inside his carry-on luggage on Saturday. DCA police were notified and they confiscated the weapon and wrote up the passenger.
The next day, an Oklahoma man was stopped going through security with a loaded .45-caliber handgun inside his carry-on. He was able to repackage the weapon and pack it properly into checked luggage.
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“This marked the 26th and 27th guns that our officers have prevented from being carried onto a flight so far this year … gun owners, regardless of their having a permit, are forbidden from carrying their firearm onto a flight,” said John Busch, the TSA federal security director for DCA. “Individuals who bring firearms to airport checkpoints face a stiff federal financial penalty. Hopefully, the weekend incidents will serve as a reminder to other gun owners.”
According to TSA, checkpoints at DCA nabbed 30 guns total in 2021, a significant spike from the 10 guns seized in 2020 and the 14 caught in 2019.
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