Gun Found In NJ Woman's Items At Philadelphia International Airport

PHILADELPHIA — A New Jersey woman was arrested after TSA agents found a handgun in her carry-on items at the Philadelphia International Airport last week.

According to TSA, the gun was found Thursday, Aug. 15.

A Pitman, N.J., woman was arrested by police at Philadelphia International Airport after TSA officers detected a .22 caliber pistol among her carry-on items at one of the airport security checkpoints.

The firearm was intercepted when the checkpoint X-ray unit alerted a TSA officer of the gun inside the carry-on bag.

Police responded, confiscated the firearm and arrested the woman on a weapons charge.

"Bringing a firearm to an airport security checkpoint introduces an unnecessary security risk to our officers and to fellow travelers," Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport, said. "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. Then take the case to your airline check-in counter and declare that you 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, these individual faces a federal financial civil penalty in addition to having to deal with her arrest."

As of Aug. 15, TSA has found 27 firearms at the Philadelphia International Airport.