What to Know
- Two loaded handguns were seized by TSA officers at Newark Liberty International Airport checkpoints mere hours apart, the TSA says
- The incidents occurred Monday at the Terminal C checkpoint and resulted in the arrest of two individuals
- Monday’s gun seizures mark first two guns caught at TSA checkpoints at Newark Liberty International Airport so far this year, officials say
Two loaded handguns were seized by TSA officers at Newark Liberty International Airport checkpoints mere hours apart, the Transportation Security Administration announced.
The incidents occurred Monday at the Terminal C checkpoint and resulted in the arrest of two individuals.
TSA says around 8 a.m. Monday, officers spotted a .45 caliber handgun in a carry-on bag in the checkpoint X-ray machine. The handgun was allegedly loaded with nine bullets, including one in the chamber.
The traveler, a man from Huntigton Valley, Pennsylvania, was subsequently arrested by Port Authority Police, according to TSA.
About six hours later, a Fort Pierce, Florida, resident was arrested by Port Authority Police with a loaded 022 caliber handgun in his carry-on bag following an X-ray checkpoint.
Authorities do not believe the incidents are related.
Local
Monday’s gun seizures mark the first two guns caught at TSA checkpoints at Newark Liberty International Airport so far this year, officials say.
Last year, 14 guns were caught at the airport’s checkpoints — a record for the most firearms caught at the airport in one calendar year, according to the TSA.
Nationwide last year, 4,239 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging about 11.6 firearms per day, an approximate 7 percent increase in firearm discoveries compared to the 3,957 detected in 2017. Eighty-six percent of firearms detected at checkpoints last year were loaded and nearly 34 percent had a bullet in the chamber.
