Odenton, MD Man Arrested At LaGuardia Airport After Officers Find Him With Loaded Gun: TSA

EAST ELMHURST, NY — Officers announced they caught an Odenton, Maryland man with a loaded handgun Saturday at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. The 9-mm gun was loaded with eight bullets, authorities said.

Officials do not think the accused man had any plans to use the firearm.

A press release said the Port Authority Police Department confiscated the gun, questioned the suspect and arrested him on a weapons charge. The suspect "also faces a stiff federal civil penalty for bringing a gun to an airport security checkpoint."

The Transportation Security Administration did not identify the accused man. That is the responsibility of the arresting agency.

“Our officers are good at preventing prohibited items and deadly weapons from getting past the checkpoints,” said Robert Duffy, TSA’s federal security director for the New York City airport. “I can assure you that the civil penalty will be costly."

An officer spotted the weapon in the man's carry-on bag as it passed through a security checkpoint X-ray machine, TSA said.

The release said this was the second firearm stopped at LaGuardia in 2022. Last year saw four gun catches at the airport. A recent high of seven weapon confiscations came in 2019.

Travelers are allowed to fly with an unloaded gun if it is packed in a locked, hard-sided and checked bag that is declared to the airline. Guns are never allowed in airplane cabins, even if the passenger has a concealed carry permit.

More information on safely flying with firearms is posted here.

A full summary of TSA penalties for prohibited items is available at this link.

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