6th Firearm Stopped At Washington Dulles Airport Checkpoint In 2023

DULLES, VA — Transportation Security Administration officers stopped a Virginia man from bringing a handgun onto a flight leaving Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday, according to a TSA release.

Officers stopped the King George, Virginia man at a security checkpoint after the X-ray unit detected a weapon in the man's carry-on bag. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the unloaded 9mm handgun and cited the man on a weapons charge. The man told officials that he forget that he was carrying the gun, according to the release.

“The spring travel season is here and our security checkpoint lanes are very busy,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s federal security director at the airport, in a release. “Our TSA officers are good at detecting prohibited and illegal items to ensure they are not carried onto a flight, and I’m grateful that our officers here at Dulles and nationwide are focused on the mission. I hope that this incident will serve as a reminder to others who own a firearm, to refresh their familiarity with the proper procedures on how to pack a gun for a flight. Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage.”

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 online for people traveling with firearms.

In addition to the citation, the man received from MWAA police, he faces a stiff civil penalty, according to TSA. The maximum penalty for carrying weapons onto a flight is $15,000.

From 2016-2023, TSA officers stopped 136 weapons from being carried onto flights leaving Dulles Airport, including six this year to date