TSA catches 2 guns in a day at Pittsburgh International, 7 so far this year

Twelve hours after security officers stopped a Texas woman with a loaded handgun at Pittsburgh International Airport, officers caught another handgun Thursday on a Monroeville woman who said she forgot the gun was in her purse.

“This traveler’s forgetfulness was a careless mistake that will hit her wallet because, like everyone who brings a gun to the checkpoint, she now faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty that could cost her thousands of dollars,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s federal security director for Pittsburgh International.

Federal civil fines can start at $4,100 and reach as high as more than $13,000 depending on the circumstances.

“If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times,” she said.

It’s the sixth gun caught at the airport security checkpoint this month and the seventh so far this year. That’s a gun every four days in February and one every nine days this year.

In less than two months, officers have already caught one-third the number of guns confiscated in all of 2020.

“It’s inexcusable to bring a gun to a checkpoint,” Keys-Turner said Thursday after the first gun of the day was stopped. “You will be caught. The police will be notified, and you could be subject to criminal charges.”

Authorities caught 21 guns at the checkpoint last year, lower than previous years because of a drop in travel amid the covid-19 pandemic. Farbstein noted that 83% were loaded.

Before that, the number of guns caught at security had been creeping slightly upward for years: 32 in 2017, 34 in 2018 and 35 in 2019, according to TSA data.

The drop in guns in 2020 was not commensurate with the drop in travelers, Farbstein said. Twice as many firearms per 1 million travelers were caught last year compared to 2019, she said.