A Beaver County man with a loaded handgun was stopped Thursday at the main security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport, but Allegheny County police determined he’d inadvertently left the weapon in an inner coat pocket.
County police said they don’t expect to charge the Aliquippa man, who had a concealed carry permit. H was allowed to board his flight after he was questioned shortly before 5 a.m. The gun was confiscated.
According to Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, the man could face a federal civil penalty. The typical penalty for carrying a loaded handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100 for a first offense, she said.
The weapon in this case was a .380-caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber, Farbstein said. A TSA officer spotted the gun inside the coat while the man’s belongings were scanned.
It was the second gun caught at the airport’s security checkpoint so far this year.
On Jan. 14, a Beaver County woman was stopped with a small, foldout .22-caliber handgun. Similarly, in that incident, officials determined the woman had a valid permit and had “inadvertently” left the firearm in her bag. Police confiscated the gun and she was permitted to proceed with her flight.
With the pandemic-related plummet in air travel playing a factor, the TSA caught 21 guns at Pittsburgh International last year. That was down from respective firearms totals of 32, 34 and 35 for 2017-19, according to data cited by Farbstein.
Nationwide, the TSA detected 3,257 firearms at checkpoints last year. About 83% of them were loaded.
