A man showed up at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at LaGuardia Airport on December 23 with 11 replica handguns stuffed in his carry-on, snarling the security line on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
The passenger had a relatively good reason for traveling with so many replica guns, given that he is a firearms instructor, although you have to wonder whether a professional trainer should know better than to try to take replica firearms through a TSA checkpoint.
In fairness to the passengers, most of the polymer replica guns were colored bright yellow to indicate that they were, of course, not real, although that wasn’t known to the TSA checkpoint, who must have had quite the shock when they saw the x-ray image of the inside of the man’s bag.
Whether it is bright yellow plastic or not, all replica guns are forbidden in passenger carry-on luggage, and the police ended up being called to the checkpoint to deal with the interception.
Thankfully, this passenger was allowed to convert his duffle bag into a checked bag and travel on his flight without getting into any further trouble.
The same can’t be said for several passengers who attempted to travel over the festive period with real handguns in their carry-on luggage.
In one case at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pennsylvania, a passenger showed up at the TSA checkpoint with a 9mm handgun loaded with 11 bullets in his hand luggage. He now faces a civil penalty of up to $15,000.
Gerardo Spero, the TSA’s Federal Security Director for Pennsylvania, had little sympathy for the passenger.
“TSA has been in existence for 23 years and this regulation has been in place for decades before TSA even existed, so it’s nothing new,” Spero commented. “Now this individual faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty that could set him back thousands of dollars. That’s an expensive mistake on his part.”
A day earlier, a man ended up being arrested after trying to get through the TSA checkpoint at Newark Liberty Airport with a .380 caliber gun, loaded with six bullets, in his carry-on.
On top of criminal prosecution, the man also faces the prospect of a hefty civil penalty.
Despite these interceptions and a shooting and stabbing incident at Phoenix Sky Harbor on Christmas Day, the TSA has performed pretty well over the Christmas period, with checkpoints processing passengers with few delays.
The highest number of passengers processed by the TSA during the 2024 festive break was on December 20, when 2.84 million people were screened at airport checkpoints across the United States.
