ROANOKE, Va. – TSA officers found another gun at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport, officials said.
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A Georgia man was caught with a .22 caliber handgun loaded with eight bullets on Monday, TSA said.
Officers said they spotted the handgun in the man’s carry-on items as they entered the checkpoint x-ray machine. TSA alerted the police, and they took the handgun and then cited the man.
The man is now facing a federal financial civil citation for bringing the loaded gun to a security checkpoint within the airport, authorities said.
TSA said the civil penalties for bringing a handgun into a checkpoint can amount to thousands of dollars, depending on the circumstances surrounding the situation.
It was the eighth gun found at the ROA this year, TSA said, making 2022 a year with the most guns found in the airport. In September, two guns were found in two days at the ROA, and both people were facing citations.
These are the number of guns spotted in the ROA since 2016, according to TSA:
- 2016 - Six guns found,
- 2017 - Three guns found,
- 2018 - Six guns found,
- 2019 - Five guns found,
- 2020 - One gun found,
- 2021 - Five guns found.
TSA gave a reminder that firearm possession laws vary by state, and passengers should do research to ensure they are abiding by those laws.
You can learn more about traveling with a gun legally on the TSA website.