Transportation Security Administration stopped a woman from bringing a loaded gun into Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday, officials announced.
Officials said the small handgun - a .22 caliber - had fit into the woman's purse, which she claimed she rarely uses.
The woman - from Northampton County, Pennsylvania - told officials she meant to hand it off to her husband before she and her daughter arrived at the airport for their flight, but she forgot to do so.
A TSA officer detected the handgun as the purse entered the checkpoint X-ray machine, according to officials.
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Officials said Port Authority Police were alerted, came to the Terminal B checkpoint and arrested the woman and escorted her daughter to the police station.
“This was a very good catch on the part of our officers to detect such a small handgun,” TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey Thomas Carter said in a news release. “When individuals bring their firearms to our checkpoints, it represents a risk to everyone in the area and slows down the checkpoint screening process for everyone. This woman did not have a permit to carry the firearm. With that said, even individuals with a permit are not permitted to carry their firearm through a checkpoint.”
Officials said in addition to her arrest, the woman also faces a stiff federal financial civil penalty for bringing a gun to a security checkpoint. The penalty can cost as much as $15,000.
“Travelers need to pay more attention to the items that they have inside their carry-on bags,” Carter added. “Travelers are responsible for the contents of their carry-on bags. In addition, responsible gun owners know where their firearms are at all times and they know not to bring them to a security checkpoint.”
So far this year, TSA has caught eight firearms at Newark Liberty International Airport checkpoints.
Officials said guns can be transported on a flight if they are unloaded, packed in a locked, hard-sided case and declared to the airline
Those guns will ride under the plane with checked baggage and never in the cabin.
If you are unsure about weather an item is allowed in a carry-on or check bagged you can visit tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring.
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