DULLES, Va. — A Reston man was stopped from bringing a loaded gun onto his flight at Dulles International Airport on Wednesday, during the busy holiday travel period, according to TSA.
A TSA officer at the airport caught the weapon as the man entered the security checkpoint. The man's carry-on bag alerted the X-ray unit leading TSA officials to notify the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police. The handgun, a 9mm loaded with seven bullets, was taken and the man was cited on a weapons charge.
The unidentified man informed airport officials that he forgot that he was carrying a loaded gun.
“Our officers are good at their jobs and are focused on their mission—especially during the busy holiday travel period,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “If you own a firearm, it is your responsibility to know where it is at all times and know that it cannot go through an airport security checkpoint. This individual’s forgetfulness means that he now faces a stiff financial civil penalty—a penalty for carrying a weapon that was recently increased to a maximum of $15,000.”
Across the country, TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints in 2021. Of the guns found by TSA last year, about 86% were loaded. TSA has already surpassed the 2021 figure and expects to detect around 6,600 firearms at security checkpoints across the country by the end of 2022, which will be a new record.
The Dulles Airport has also reached a height not seen over the last few years. So far this year, there has been 25 guns found at the airport. In the previous five years the max amount of guns caught at the airport was 19.
