Bethesda woman caught with loaded gun at Reagan National Airport on Christmas Eve

TSA at Reagan National stops woman from bringing loaded gun on flight

TSA officers at Reagan National Airport stopped a traveler from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight. They say a Bethesda woman had the weapon in her carry-on bag. She faces a fine of up to $15,000. This is the 39th time this year TSA officers at Reagan have discovered a gun at a security checkpoint.

ARLINGTON, Va. - TSA officers at Reagan National Airport stopped a traveler from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight on Christmas Eve.

The agency said a Bethesda woman had the weapon in her carry-on bag. Officers at the security checkpoint were alerted to the weapon after her bag went through the X-ray unit.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police was called, the gun was confiscated, and the woman was given a citation for a weapons charge.

"Bringing a gun to an airport security checkpoint was no way to enter the holiday," said John Busch, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport in a statement. "There’s naughty and there’s nice at this time of year and the nice way to transport your firearm is to make sure it is unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case and declared at your airline check-in counter. The naughty way is to bring it to a checkpoint. This traveler was cited by the police and will likely receive a federal civil penalty of thousands of dollars. Responsible gun owners know where their guns are at all times and they know not to bring them to an airport checkpoint."

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