Pittsburgh International Airport ties record for guns seized in single year

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh International Airport has tied the record for the most guns seized in a single year.

The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday that officers caught a passenger with a loaded gun at the airport’s security checkpoint on Oct. 7. It was the fifth gun seized in the first week of October and brought the yearly total to 35 guns, which ties the record of 35 set in 2019.

“This proliferation of passengers toting their firearms with their carry-on items needs to stop,” said Karen Keys-Turner, the TSA’s federal security director for Pittsburgh International Airport, in the release. “There’s no excuse for bringing a gun to our checkpoints because you certainly can’t carry it onto your flight. Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint is a serious matter and those individuals doing so will pay for their mistake.”  

Anyone caught with a gun at the airport faces stiff financial civil penalties, which, depending on the circumstances, can run as high as $15,000, the TSA said. 

Not only could offenders face stiff penalties, but county sheriffs could soon get referrals from federal authorities to review the offender’s permit, and that could lead to a person getting their concealed carry revoked.  

Last year, 6,542 firearms were stopped at airport security checkpoints nationwide. In 2022, 26 guns were seized at Pittsburgh International Airport. 

The TSA said passengers can travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, which should be taken to the check-in counter to be declared.