Pittsburgh Airport 1 Short Of Tying Annual Gun Confiscation Record

FINDLAY TOWNSHIP, PA — Despite repeated warnings not to do so, people still are attempting to get loaded handguns through Pittsburgh International Airport security checkpoints. Another weapon was confiscated at the airport Thursday morning.

That brings the total number of guns taken away by Transportation Security Administration officials this year to 34. That's only one shy of tying the record of 35 set in 2019 and it's only early October.

In this latest instance, a Greensburg man was carrying a .22 caliber pistol loaded with five bullets and had another five bullets in his carry-on bag.

The confiscation tried the patience of Karen Keys Turner, the TSA's federal security director for the airport. Turner issued a statement Thursday that echoed many of her previous comments this year regarding the sheer folly of trying to get a loaded gun past her agency officers.

“Bring a gun to our checkpoint and you will face a stiff federal financial civil penalty that could cost you thousands of dollars," she said.

"Make no mistake, we take this very seriously and there is a high cost for gun owners who think that they can waltz through a checkpoint and onto a plane with a gun.”