STEWART AIRPORT – A Lagrangeville woman was stopped by TSA officials as an officer spotted her with a .380 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber, as she was going through the New York Stewart International Airport security checkpoint to catch a flight on Friday, February 21.
TSA officers detected the gun as the woman’s carry-on items entered the checkpoint x-ray machine.
State Police were contacted and the gun was confiscated and the woman was detained for questioning.
The woman, whose name was name released, told officials she forgot she had her loaded gun with her.
A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100. That applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because even though an individual may have a conceal carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried onto an airplane.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-side case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition.
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality.
Nationwide last year, 4,432 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints, averaging about 12.1 firearms per day, a five percent increase nationally in firearms discoveries from the total of 4,239 detected in 2018. Of those detected at checkpoints last year, 87 percent were loaded.
