TSA catches 2 guns in 1 hour at Pittsburgh International Airport

Security agents discovered two guns in less than an hour Tuesday at Pittsburgh International Airport, marking the 15th and 16th found at the airport this year, officials said.

Transportation Security Administration agents spotted a loaded 9mm handgun in a Pittsburgh resident’s carry-on baggage, according to TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The gun was loaded with 17 rounds, and a magazine with another 17 bullets was also found in the individual’s bag.

Within an hour, agents caught an Oakdale man with a 9mm handgun in his bag as well, Farbstein said. His firearm, however, was not loaded.

TSA officials said in August that while the covid-19 pandemic had air travel numbers way down, agents were catching more guns at checkpoints – particularly during the summer months when three times as many firearms were found in carry-on baggage.

In July, officers found 15.3 guns per million people. In July 2019, they found 5.3 per million passengers, officials said.

“Travelers must understand that firearms are prohibited items at airports and in the passenger cabins of aircraft,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said at the time. “As hard as we are working to mitigate other risks at this time, no one should be introducing new ones.”

Late last month, TSA agents at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport caught eight guns in one week, according to KPRC2 in Houston. Six were loaded.

The week prior, agents in Tennessee caught eight guns in one week, including at least one at each of the state’s major airports, according to WBIR.

Through the end of August, about 2.5 million travelers have passed through the airport – down about 60% from the same timeframe in 2019, according to data from the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

While the number of travelers is down 60%, the number of guns found at checkpoints is down less than 50%.

At Pittsburgh International, agents caught 14 guns through the end of August and four more in September – three of which came in the same week. From January through the end of September in 2019, Pittsburgh TSA agents had caught 29 firearms, according to TSA data.