TSA: Woman tried to bring loaded gun onto plane at Wisconsin's Appleton International Airport
Transportation Security Administration officers at the Appleton International Airport in Wisconsin stopped a woman from bringing a loaded gun on a plane last week, reports the Appleton Post-Crescent, which is a part of the Paste BN Network.
Around 7:30 a.m. Friday, a TSA officer found a loaded .38-caliber handgun in the lining of the woman's carry-on bag, according to a news release from TSA. An Outagamie County Sheriff's deputy came to the airport and confiscated the weapon.
People who have guns with them at an airport security checkpoint can face a civil fine of at least $4,100. The fine can be as high as $13,699, depending on mitigating circumstances, according to TSA. Even gun owners who have a concealed carry permit cannot bring a firearm onto the passenger section of airplanes.
“Under no circumstances should a passenger bring a firearm to an airport security checkpoint,” Wisconsin’s TSA Federal Security Director Mark Lendvay said. "Passengers who wish to travel with a firearm, permissible in a checked bag only, should check with their airline and review TSA’s rules before coming to the airport.”
Passengers can travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked and packed separately from ammunition, according to the TSA. Travelers must inform airlines they are traveling with a gun when they check their bags.
According to the TSA, in 2019, more than 4,430 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country and 87% of them were loaded. That is an increase of around 5% from 2018, when 4,239 firearms were found at security checkpoints.
Officers found 15.3 guns for every million people screened in July, compared with 5.1 per million people in July of last year, the Transportation Security Administration said earlier this summer.
Contact Natalie Brophy at (715) 216-5452 or nbrophy@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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