A West Virginia woman is facing a federal civil penalty after officials discovered a loaded handgun in her purse Thursday as she was proceeding through the security checkpoint at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

It was the sixth handgun Transportation Security Administration officers discovered at the airport so far this year — double the number caught in 2019, when significantly more people were flying prior to the covid-19 pandemic.

The most recent intercepted gun was loaded with four bullets, according to TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. TSA officers alerted the Westmoreland County Park Police, who took possession of the gun and questioned the woman.

TSA may issue a civil penalty ranging from $3,000 to $13,910 in an instance where a loaded gun or gun parts are brought to a checkpoint, depending on mitigating or aggravating circumstances. Even if someone has a concealed carry permit, it doesn’t allow them to carry a firearm onto an airplane, according to Farbstein.

There have been more handguns found at the Unity airport checkpoint this year than in any of the previous four years. According to the TSA, there were two guns found each in 2017 and 2018 and one gun found in 2020, when the pandemic triggered a drop in air travel.

Nationwide, TSA caught about 10 firearms per million passengers last year, compared to about five firearms per million passengers in 2019. Of the guns caught by TSA in 2020, about 83% were loaded.

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