NEW YORK – A Sullivan County man was arrested by police on Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officers detected a handgun in his carry-on bag.
The gun was not loaded, but it was packed alongside five bullets in a gun magazine.
The gun was detected when the man, a resident of Liberty, entered the security checkpoint with his carry-on items. The checkpoint X-ray unit triggered an alarm, requiring that the carry-on items be more closely inspected, which is when the firearm was removed.
Port Authority Police were alerted, confiscated the weapon and arrested the man on a weapons charge.
His name was not released.
The man told officials that he packed his own carry-on bag and that he had no idea how the gun and loaded gun magazine came to be inside the bag. He also claimed the gun did not belong to him.
In addition to his arrest, the man faces a stiff federal financial penalty, which can reach as high as $15,000 for bringing the gun to an airport checkpoint.
This was the fourth firearm that TSA officers detected at the JFK checkpoints so far this year.
In 2022, seven guns were removed from carry-on bags at JFK.
