Transportation Security Administration officials caught another gun at Pittsburgh International Airport this week – the 14th this year despite much lower levels of air travel.
A security officer spotted a loaded 9mm handgun in a man’s carry-on bag on the checkpoint X-ray scanner, according to TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein. Allegheny County Police responded to the checkpoint and confiscated the Aliquippa man’s gun.
The man, who officials did not identify, faces a federal fine.
The number of firearms caught at Pittsburgh International checkpoints has increased slightly each of the past three years: 32 in 2017, 34 in 2018 and 35 in 2019.
Earlier this month, security agents caught three guns in eight days, all of which resulted in federal fines against the traveler.
Officials said in August they caught three times as many firearms at security checkpoints in July 2020 as they did during the same month in 2019: 15.3 guns per million passengers as opposed to 5.1 guns per million passengers last year.
