NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A Connecticut woman was arrested after Transportation Security Administration officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport prevented her from bringing her loaded handgun through a security checkpoint on Friday, authorities announced Monday.
Port Authority Police discovered the .22 caliber gun which was loaded with nine bullets, including one in the chamber.
The Greenwich, Conn., woman was not ticketed to fly and was escorting a minor. She was given a "gate pass" from the airline to allow her to escort her minor child through the checkpoint and to their gate, officials said.
The gun was caught as the woman entered the security checkpoint. TSA officers detected the gun in the carry-on bag through X-ray and the police notified.
The firearm was confiscated by the Port Authority Police before arresting the woman on weapons charges.
Additionally, the woman now faces a financial civil penalty for bringing a gun to a TSA security checkpoint which was recently increased to a maximum of $15,000.
“Our TSA team at JFK perform their jobs exceptionally well with a keen focus to our mission,” said John Essig, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “When dangerous items such as loaded guns are brought to a security checkpoint, it represents a serious safety concern. When a bullet is in the chamber of the firearm, it is an accident waiting to happen. Nobody is permitted to carry a firearm through a checkpoint—not a gate pass holder, not someone with a concealed weapons permit, not a traveler.”
This was the first firearm detected at the airport this year by TSA.
Last year, TSA officers prevented seven firearms from getting through checkpoints at JFK Airport. All of them were loaded.
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