A Colts Neck, N.J., man told officials that he did not know he had a loaded gun in his backpack when Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Newark Liberty International Airport intercepted the gun, which was packed in the man’s carry-on bag on Monday, March 24. The 9mm gun was loaded with five bullets.
When TSA officers detected the firearm, they contacted Port Authority Police and moved all of the other passengers who were in the security lane to another lane, while police responded, confiscated the gun and arrested the man.
“When someone shows up with a gun at our checkpoint, it inconveniences other travelers who are waiting to be screened,” explained Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey. “The traveler was arrested, and he’ll now face a stiff financial civil penalty, so he’s paying the price for his mistake. However, what is often forgotten is that a firearm at a checkpoint inconveniences other travelers in the line, which has a ripple effect at our checkpoint by increasing the amount of time travelers need to wait in line to be screened while the incident is resolved.”
The original announcement can be found here.