A West Virginia man was arrested by police after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) intercepted a gun at the security checkpoint on Wednesday, March 5. The unloaded .32 caliber firearm was among the carry-on items belonging to the traveler, a resident of Morgantown, W.Va.
“Our officers continue to prevent individuals from carrying guns onto their flights,” said Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Pennsylvania. “Yesterday they detected an old pistol in a traveler’s carry-on bag. It marked the 10th firearm that has been intercepted at one of the two airport checkpoints. At this pace, the number of guns caught could set an annual record. It’s not the type of record we want to set. We would much prefer that fewer individuals bringing guns to the checkpoints.”
TSA has details on the proper way to pack firearms and ammunition on its web site here. It outlines the need to pack an unloaded gun in a locked hard-sided case and then taking it to the airline check-in counter to be transported in the belly of the aircraft so that nobody has access to it during the fight.
When TSA officers caught the gun, they notified the police, who came to the checkpoint, confiscated the weapon and arrested the man.
The original announcement can be found here.