LINTHICUM, Md. — A Glen Burnie woman was detained after a loaded handgun was found in her carry-on luggage at a security checkpoint at BWI Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration said the woman was attempting to go through security Wednesday morning when a TSA officer spotted the weapon, a .38-caliber handgun loaded with six bullets, including one in the gun’s firing chamber, as the woman’s bags went through an X-ray machine.
TSA officers contacted Maryland Transportation Authority Police, who came to confiscate the weapon and detain the woman for questioning. She was cited on state weapons charges.
The woman said she forgot that she had a loaded gun on her as she came through security. The gun marked the 12th such weapon TSA found in passenger luggage so far this year. Last year, 22 total guns were found at BWI check points, putting 2019 well ahead of that pace.
Nationally, the confiscation of weapons at airports increased by 7 percent from 2018 to 2019, with 3,957 total weapons discovered, 34 percent of those with bullets in chambers, TSA said.
Anyone caught bringing a weapon through a security checkpoint are subject to criminal charges. Even if a traveler has a concealed weapons permit, guns are not allowed onto planes in carry-on bags.
