TSA catches 8th gun this year at Pittsburgh International

Transportation Security Administration officers caught another gun at the Pittsburgh International Airport checkpoint over the weekend — the eighth this year, officials said.

A Verona woman was stopped at the checkpoint just before 7 a.m. Saturday when TSA officers spotted the gun in the woman’s carry-on bags on the X-ray scanner, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

Officers with the Allegheny County Police, which patrols the airport, responded to the checkpoint, police said. They determined the woman had a concealed-carry permit and inadvertently left the loaded .380-caliber handgun in her purse.

While no criminal charges were filed, federal civil fines can start at $4,100 and reach more than $13,000 depending on the circumstances.

Of the eight guns found at the airport’s checkpoints, six were found in February.

Authorities caught 21 guns at the checkpoint last year, lower than previous years because of a drop in travel amid the covid-19 pandemic. In all, officers caught 3,257 guns at 234 airports. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport topped the list with 220.

Farbstein noted 83% of the guns caught in 2020 were loaded.

All eight guns caught in 2021 have been loaded, including two with a round in the chamber.

Before last year, the number of guns caught at security was creeping slightly upward for years: 32 in 2017, 34 in 2018 and 35 in 2019, according to TSA data.

The drop in guns in 2020 was not commensurate with the drop in travelers, Farbstein said. Twice as many firearms per 1 million travelers were caught last year compared to 2019, she said.