ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An Alexandria woman was prevented from bringing a fully loaded gun on a flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) Tuesday, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
TSA officers said the woman had a .380 caliber gun which was loaded with six bullets. The gun was found in her carry-on bag.
After TSA officers spotted the gun, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police were notified and confiscated the weapon. She told officials that she forgot that she had her loaded gun with her. The woman was cited on weapons charges.
“This was the 24th gun that our officers have prevented from being carried onto a flight in 2022,” said John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for DCA.
The 24 guns collected so far this year is just shy of the amount confiscated during the previous year. In 2021, TSA officers collected a total of 30 firearms from being carried onto flights at DCA.
TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags at checkpoints last year across the country. Of the guns caught by TSA in 2021, about 86% were loaded.
“If someone wants to transport their firearm on a flight, they certainly can, as long as it is unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided case and declared as checked baggage with the airline as described on the TSA website,” Busch said.
Sign up for the Get Up DC newsletter: Your forecast. Your commute. Your news.
Sign up for the Capitol Breach email newsletter, delivering the latest breaking news and a roundup of the investigation into the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021.