The South Bend Airport’s TSA checkpoint stopped a passenger from bringing two loaded handguns onto a flight on Tuesday.
In a press release, the agency says the two guns were spotted during the routine screening of checked luggage at around 6 a.m. A St. Joseph County Airport Public Safety Officer was alerted and took possession of the bag.
Both guns were loaded. The traveler, a resident of Shipshewana, had a concealed carry permit. Indiana TSA federal security director Aaron Blatt called the incident a “serious offense.”
“Not only is it illegal to carry a gun through a security checkpoint, but it is also disruptive to the security operation,” Batt said in the release. “It delays the travelers in line when a gun is detected. Travelers should know better than to make such a careless and costly mistake.”
The agency says these were the eighth and ninth guns stopped at the South Bend Airport checkpoint this year. Last year, five guns were detected at SBN.
Guns can be transported in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter.
A typical first offense for carrying a loaded handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100. The agency may impose civil penalties of up to $13,910 per violation. If the traveler is a member of TSA PreCheck, they will also lose their PreCheck privileges for some time.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating here.
