Transportation Security Administration officers at Norfolk International Airport nabbed their seventh firearm of the year, the agency announced.
An unidentified Hampton, Virginia, woman attempted to go through the security checkpoint with a loaded 9mm handgun last week. The TSA did not specify how many bullets were in the gun.
The woman, for her troubles, was written up by local police and charged with the Virginia misdemeanor of bringing a gun into an airport terminal. She also faces civil penalties from the TSA.
The agency has raised the maximum civil penalty for being caught with a loaded firearm at security to $14,950, after a 2022 that saw Americans breaking the wrong kind of records. An unprecedented 6,542 guns were brought to 262 of the 430 checkpoints nationwide.
In addition to the financial penalty, those travelers with TSA PreCheck status lose it if they are caught trying to bring a gun through security.
The TSA reiterates that, for those who travel with their gun, the piece must be unloaded, stored in a separate hard-sided and locked case, and checked at the counter upon arrival to the airport.
“Friday marked the seventh gun that our officers in Norfolk have prevented from being carried onto a flight so far this young year … Remember that a concealed carry permit or enrollment in the TSA PreCheck program are not exemptions from this policy,” said TSA Federal Security Director for Norfolk International Airport Robin Burke.
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