Loaded gun found at the State College Regional Airport by TSA for the 2nd time in a month
An unnamed central Pennsylvania man was caught Tuesday with a loaded .357-caliber firearm at the State College Regional Airport, marking the second time in less than a month that a gun was intercepted at the airport’s security checkpoint.
The weapon was loaded with five bullets, the Transportation Security Administration wrote in a statement. The airport’s X-ray unit alerted officers of the weapon, which was in the Juniata County man’s carry-on bag, the federal agency wrote.
Police allowed the man to exit the airport with his firearm, TSA wrote. He now faces what the agency described as a stiff financial penalty.
Donald Weston, TSA’s acting federal security director for the airport, said in a statement that it is “disappointing to continue to see travelers bring their guns to our checkpoints.”
“This was the second firearm that our officers have intercepted at the airport in the last month,” Weston said. “Bringing loaded guns to checkpoints is a serious security violation and this individual can expect to receive a federal fine that will be in the thousands of dollars.”
A Luzerne County man was stopped in September after officers were alerted of a loaded 9mm handgun in his backpack. The weapon was loaded with nine bullets, including one in the chamber, TSA wrote last month. It was the first gun caught at the airport since 2020.
Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided, locked case. The case should then be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.
Nationwide, nearly 6,750 firearms were detected at airport security checkpoints last year. That was an about 3% increase over 2022, which TSA described as “significant.” About 93% of firearms caught in 2023 were loaded, according to data provided by TSA.
