A man was caught trying to board a flight in Maine with a hatchet and a homemade gun in his carry-on bag.
The incident happened at Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine on December 14, when Transportation Security Administration officers detected the weapons in the man's luggage as he passed through routine screening.
"Portland Police responded and confiscated the firearm," New England TSA spokesperson Daniel Velez said on Twitter.
Velez added that it was the third time this year firearms were detected at the airport.
Velez told MassLive that the passenger was a 50-year-old man heading to Philadelphia. The man was allowed to keep the hatchet, but had to put it in his checked luggage.
The discovery came just days before the TSA announced it intercepted a record number of firearms at airport security checkpoints nationwide this year. As of December 16, TSA has stopped 6,301 firearms; more than 88% were loaded. That breaks the previous record of 5,972 firearms detected in 2021.
"TSA anticipates it will prevent about 6,600 firearms in carry-on bags from entering the secure area of airports by the end of 2022, a nearly 10% increase over 2021’s record level," the agency said in a statement.
Firearms are never allowed in carry-on bags at any security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed weapon permit, the TSA said. The maximum penalty for a firearms violation is $14,950, though the TSA determines the exact amount for a violation based on the circumstances in each case. Depending on state or local law in the airport's location, passengers who bring firearms to a checkpoint may also be arrested by law enforcement.
Firearms can be transported in checked luggage, so long as a passenger follows proper packing guidance and declares them to their airline at check-in.
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