CEDAR RAPIDS – Transportation Security Administration officials yesterday found a loaded firearm in a carry-on bag at Eastern Iowa Airport.
According to a TSA news release, officials on Monday discovered the firearm, loaded with seven rounds, in a passenger’s carry-on bag during a security screening.
The gun was taken into possession and the passenger cited on a local charge and then allowed to continue on their way, the release states.
“Passengers cannot bring firearms to TSA security checkpoints,” TSA Iowa Federal Security Director David Dailey said in the release. “A firearm can only be transported in a checked bag. The passenger must properly pack it in a locked, hard-sided case and declare it to the airline at the ticket counter.”
Firearm parts, ammunition and realistic replicas also are not allowed through security checkpoints, but can travel in checked bags, the release states.
In 2017, TSA officers found a record-setting 3,957 firearms at security screening checkpoints around the country – making for an average of almost 11 per day and a 17 percent increase over 2016, the release states.
According to the release, the TSA can levy a civil penalty up to $13,000 against passengers who bring a firearm to a security checkpoint. The average penalty for a loaded gun is about $4,000.