Another Loaded Gun Seized At Pittsburgh International Airport

PITTSBURGH – Transportation Security Administration officers at Pittsburgh International Airport stopped a man attempting to get a loaded gun through a security checkpoint. The weapon seized, the second confiscated at the airport in two days, was a .380 caliber handgun loaded with six bullets.

The owner of the gun, a Salem, WV man, was not identified.

The confiscation brought the total number of guns caught at the airport's checkpoints to 14 thus far this year. Each of those weapons was loaded, TSA officials said. Last year, a record 44 guns were seized.

“This is a good opportunity to remind all firearm owners that they certainly can travel with their gun if they pack it the proper way,” Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport, said in a statement.

“All you need to do is make sure that the firearm is unloaded, that it is packed in a locked hard-sided case and taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. At that point, the airline will ensure it is transported in the belly of the plane where nobody has access to it during the flight."

Keys-Turner noted that if individuals don’t follow those steps, they risk criminal charges from the police, including arrest, and they likely will be slapped with a federal financial penalty that could total thousands of dollars.