Man Tells Dulles Airport Police He Forgot There Was A Loaded Gun In His Carry-On Bag

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

TSA officers using an X-ray machine detected a 9mm gun loaded with 12 bullets in the man's carry-on baggage as he was going through a security checkpoint. They also spotted another magazine containing an additional 12 rounds of ammunition. TSA officials contacted the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, who seized the weapon and cited the man, who told police he'd forgotten that he was carrying the loaded gun.

“Responsible gun owners know where their weapons are at all times,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, in a release. “It makes no sense that a firearm owner would not know the location of their loaded gun. Not only was this individual cited by the police, but he now faces a stiff financial civil penalty.”

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.

Monday's incident was the second time TSA officers have stopped a gun this year at an IAD checkpoint.

Firearms caught at IAD checkpoints from 2017 to 2022:

• 2017 -13
• 2018-16
• 2019-14
• 2020-10*
• 2021-30*
• 2022-2*

* Fewer flights left from the airport due to the pandemic.