The Transportation Security Administration confiscated a loaded handgun from a Georgia man at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, the third gun intercepted at the airport in a week, officials said.
“We are on the cusp of setting a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected at checkpoints here in Pittsburgh during a single year and we still have three full months left in 2023,” Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, said Monday.
TSA has confiscated 33 guns at the airport to date this year, the highest number in at least four years, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
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Agents confiscated 35 guns in 2019, the current record high, and 26 guns all of last year, Farbstein said.
In the latest incident, TSA said it stopped the Georgia man from taking a loaded 9mm handgun onto a plane. Officials did not identify the man.
Previously, agents confiscated a loaded gun on Sept. 26 and a revolver on Sept. 24, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Those who try to carry guns onto a flight face a civil penalty of up to $15,000, depending on the circumstances, Farbstein said.
Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if the weapons are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, Farbstein said. The locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.
