CLEVELAND — Editor's note: The video in the player above is from an unrelated story published on August 18, 2021.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped and confiscated a loaded weapon from traveling onboard a flight today at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
According to officials, the incident happened around 5 a.m. when TSA officers found a passenger attempting to carry a loaded handgun, as well as several rounds of ammunition, onto a flight leaving from Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Division of Police was called immediately.
The passenger told officials that he has a concealed carry permit and forget that his firearm was in his bag.
TSA officials say that this is the thirteenth firearm confiscated at Cleveland Hopkins Airport this year-- five of which have occurred in August, alone. In 2019, 26 firearms were detected, and in 2020, that number amounted to 18.
"Gun owners need to know that we mean business when we detect a firearm at a checkpoint,” said Ohio TSA Federal Security Director Donald Barker. “We take it extremely seriously when our officers stop a traveler with a gun or any other prohibited item during the screening process. Guns are never allowed on flights.”
TSA says that firearms are permitted to travel, but they must be properly secured away in a checked bag, and must be unloaded, locked in a hardback case, and declared at the passenger's airline check-in counter.
The penalty for attempting to bring a loaded handgun into an airport without properly checking it first is $4,100. Passengers could also lose TSA PreCheck privileges and face other penalties if they are found to be in violation of TSA code.
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