A Florida man is facing a criminal citation after being caught with a gun at an airport checkpoint for the second time, according to federal authorities.
The man was stopped at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday, trying to bring a loaded 9mm handgun through a security checkpoint. He told officers that “he wanted to travel with the firearm for protection,” according to the Transportation Security Administration.
It’s the second time the same man has been caught at an airport with the same gun, the TSA said. The previous incident happened at the Pensacola airport in 2019, but he was allowed to bring the gun back to his car.
This time, the gun was confiscated and the man is facing a citation and a potential fine. A TSA official called the repeat offense “just plain irresponsible.”
This is the sixth gun intercepted at the airport in April alone and the 16th so far this year, according to the TSA. That pace puts DCA on track for some 50 firearm intercepts in 2024, an increase over the 39 caught last year and 14 caught in 2019,
More from a TSA press release, below.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport intercepted their sixth firearm at one of the airport checkpoints so far this month, the latest stopped on Tuesday, April 23. The 9mm handgun was loaded with 10 bullets.
The man, a resident of Florida, was caught with the same gun at the Pensacola International Airport in 2019. It also was loaded with 10 bullets. At the time, local police allowed the man to return the gun to his car. But this time after TSA officers intercepted the firearm and notified police, the Washington Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the weapon and issued him a criminal citation.
The man told officials that he wanted to travel with the firearm for protection.
Guns are not permitted through the security checkpoint and the travelers face a stiff financial civil penalty from TSA. The penalty for carrying weapons can reach a maximum of $15,000.
“This individual did not learn his lesson the first time he carried his gun to a checkpoint and this second time could be costlier because his financial civil penalty may be significantly more for repeating his same mistake,” said John Busch, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Under any circumstances it is unacceptable to bring a loaded gun to an airport checkpoint, but to do it twice is just plain irresponsible.”
TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.
Bringing a firearm to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a gun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances. This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because a concealed carry permit does not allow a firearm to be carried onto an airplane. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.