Woman Arrested for Trying to Board Flight at LaGuardia With Loaded Revolver: TSA

A woman from Louisiana was arrested after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers prevented her from carrying her loaded handgun onto a flight at LaGuardia Airport on Monday, the agency said — a day when many people are returning back home after the long Thanksgiving Day weekend.

A TSA officer spotted the handgun on the checkpoint X-ray machine’s monitor as the woman’s belongings entered the X-ray unit. TSA immediately alerted the Port Authority Police, which responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the gun.

The .38 caliber revolver handgun was loaded with five bullets.

The woman was questioned and subsequently arrested on a weapons violation.

According to Robert Duffy, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport, the number of people TSA officers have stopped with guns at checkpoints has increased in comparison to last year.

“Our officers have already stopped more than twice as many guns at our checkpoints this year as last year,” Duffy said. “Yet nobody should be bringing a gun to a checkpoint because they are not permitted to be carried onto airplanes. This goes for people who have concealed carry permits and it goes for travelers who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck®. If an individual wants to transport their firearm for a flight, it must be properly packed for placement in checked baggage. That starts with ensuring that it is unloaded.”

TSA firearms catches at LaGuardia Airport checkpoints, 2017 to 2022