Loaded Gun Found In Takoma Park Man's Carry-On Bag At Reagan National Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer stopped a Maryland man from bringing a loaded gun onto a flight leaving from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on Tuesday, according to a TSA release.

The officer detected the gun as the Takoma Park man entered the security checkpoint with his carry-on items. TSA contacted the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police who confiscated the .40 caliber gun, which was loaded with 13 bullets and one in the chamber. The man was then cited on a weapons charge.

“Twenty-five days into the new year and already our officers stopped a fourth gun from being carried onto a flight,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for DCA, in a release. “Gun owners need to know that our TSA officers are good at detecting weapons and are focused on their mission. As a reminder to firearm owners, it is important to know that even if you have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow you to bring your gun through a TSA security checkpoint.”

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. The locked case must be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

Firearms caught at DCA checkpoints from 2017 to 2022:

• 2017 -13
• 2018-16
• 2019-14
• 2020-10
• 2021-30
• 2022-4

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Handgun Confiscated From Passenger's Carry-On Bag At DC Airport