Police arrested a local man after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers prevented the New York City man from carrying a loaded handgun onto his flight today at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The gun was spotted inside the man’s carry-on bag when a TSA officer who was staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitor spotted the weapon.
TSA then alerted Port Authority Police, who confiscated the handgun and arrested the man on weapons charges.
“It’s 2022, and the law regarding the prohibition of guns in airplanes has been in place for decades. This is nothing new,” Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey, said.
“Let me be perfectly clear. Guns are not permitted to be carried onto planes. Not if they are loaded. Not if they are unloaded. Not even if you have a concealed carry permit. Under no circumstances are travelers permitted to bring guns through our security checkpoints. Our TSA officers are very good at detecting weapons from getting through the checkpoints.”
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter.
Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition.
Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on properly traveling with a firearm posted on its website.
Bringing a gun 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 handgun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances.
This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits. Even though an individual may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for 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.
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and passengers should do their homework to make sure that they are not violating any local firearm laws.
Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.