A Georgia woman allegedly brought a loaded handgun into Bangor International Airport over the weekend.
The woman, who was not identified, had a .380-caliber handgun loaded with six bullets in a handbag when she attempted to pass through the airport on Saturday, according to Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration.
When questioned by security, the woman said she did not know the gun was on her, but thought it was in another bag, Farbstein said Monday. The woman was allowed to hand the gun off to a friend who was not departing on a plane.
“The public should feel reassured that our TSA officers continue to remain vigilant in performing their security duties during this pandemic,” Bob Allison, TSA’s security director for Maine, said in a Monday statement. “Gun owners should know where their firearm is at all times. There is really no excuse for trying to bring a handgun onto an airplane where someone would have access to it during a flight.”
It was the first gun caught at a checkpoint at Bangor International Airport this year. One was found in 2019, none in 2018, three in 2017 and one in 2016, according to Farbstein.
In all, 4,432 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country in 2019, up 5 percent from 2018. About 87 percent of firearms detected at checkpoints last year were loaded, according to data provided by the TSA.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked and packed separately from ammunition. Anyone who brings an undeclared firearm through a checkpoint can face criminal charges and civil penalties up to $13,333, according to the TSA. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100.