DULLES, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia man was cited on a weapons charge earlier this week after a loaded handgun was found inside his carry-on bag at Washington Dulles International Airport, according to a release from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
On Thursday, Nov. 17, the suspect, identified only as a man from Mount Solon, Va., was going through the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles Airport when a X-ray monitor alert went off, prompting a TSA officer to stop the man and take a closer look at the contents inside his carry-on bag.
According to the TSA’s release, the officer found a .22 caliber handgun loaded with four bullets inside the man’s bag. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police were subsequently notified of the incident and arrived on scene to confiscate the gun and give the man a weapons charge citation.
The man later told authorities that the gun did not belong to him and that he did not know how it ended up in his carry-on bag, the TSA’s release read.
Federal law prohibits the presence of firearms on airplanes, regardless of whether the traveler has a concealed gun carry permit. According to the TSA, bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty, which could cost the offender up to thousands of dollars in charges. For more information or to see the complete list of civil penalties, visit here.
