NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Police arrested a man after Transportation Security Administration officers detected a loaded handgun and more than 100 bullets in his carry-on bag at a LaGuardia Airport security checkpoint on Tuesday.
Officials discovered a .22 caliber firearm was loaded with 10 bullets alongside two boxes of 50 bullets each for a total of 110 bullets, authorities said.
The handgun was detected when the man entered the security checkpoint with his carry-on items which triggered an alarm, requiring that the carry-on items be more closely inspected.
Port Authority Police were alerted when the TSA officer spotted the gun, then confiscated the weapon and arrested the man on a weapons charge.
The man told officials that he had taken his bag to a shooting range and forgot that the gun and ammunition were in the bag when he took it with him to the airport.
The man also faces a federal financial penalty that can reach as high as $15,000 for bringing a weapon to an airport checkpoint.
"People carrying guns to our checkpoints represent a serious security and safety concern," said Robert Duffy, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. "The fact that the majority of people tell us that they forgot that they had their loaded gun with them is equally disconcerting. If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times. That’s part of being a responsible gun owner," he said.
It was the second firearm that TSA officers have detected at the airport’s checkpoints so far this year.
Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded.
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