Three loaded guns confiscated at Pittsburgh International Airport

Transportation Security Administration officers at Pittsburgh International Airport report catching a Georgia man with a 9mm handgun at the security checkpoint last Friday, marking the third gun that TSA officers detected at the airport last week. The handgun was loaded with six bullets.

The discovery followed the detection of a loaded gun on Tuesday, Sept. 26, and a revolver that was removed from a traveler's carry-on bag on Sunday, Sept. 24 in Pittsburgh.

Federal penalties for bringing weapons to the checkpoint can run as high as $15,000, depending on the circumstances.

"There is absolutely no excuse for bringing a gun to one of our checkpoints," said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA's Federal Security Director for the airport. "Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage.”

 The TSA says it is nearing a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected at checkpoints here in Pittsburgh during a single year with three months left in 2023.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

Firearms are not permitted through a security checkpoint because passengers should not have access to a firearm during a flight. This even applies to travelers with concealed carry permits or are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.  Individuals who bring their gun to a security checkpoint also face a federal financial civil penalty.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent were loaded.