3 Guns In 4 Days Detected By TSA Officers At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — For the third time in four days, Transportation Security Administration officers stopped a passenger from bringing a handgun on a flight leaving from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

On Monday, TSA officers at an airport checkpoint were alerted by the X-ray team that the carry-on bag of a Florida woman needed a closer look. Searching the bag, agents discovered a .380 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber.

TSA notified the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, who confiscated the handgun and cited the traveler for bringing the handgun to a security checkpoint. The woman faces possible penalties of up to $15,000.

On Saturday, TSA officers at National Airport discovered a 9 mm handgun loaded with 10 bullets inside the bag of a traveler from Falls Church. The next day, TSA officers found an unloaded .380 handgun in the backpack of a man from Leesburg. He told officials that he'd forgotten that he had his gun with him.

Related: 2 VA Men Stopped With Firearms In Carry-On Bags At National Airport

John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, said that it was extremely disappointing to see travelers continuing to bring firearms to security checkpoints.

“Travelers need to know the contents of their carry-on bags and they should know not to bring a gun to a checkpoint because if they do, our TSA officers will stop them and notify the police to take control of the firearm," he said. "Bringing a firearm to a checkpoint may result in a criminal citation or arrest by police in addition to the federal financial penalty.”

People are allowed to travel with their handguns, but the handguns must be properly stored in their checked baggage and declared at check-in. In addition, handguns must be stored unloaded in a hard-locked case, with ammunition stored separately. The hard-locked case must be brought to the airline check-in window, where it will be checked with the traveler's baggage. TSA has more information available onlinefor people traveling with firearms.

Including the handgun found on Monday, TSA officers have detected a total of 13 firearms at Washington National in 2024. Thirty-nine firearms were stopped at the airport in 2023, which was 10 more than the previous year.