Feb. 17—huntington, w.va. — A Lawrence County, Ohio, man was cited by police after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Huntington Tri-State Airport detected a handgun in the man's carry-on bag early Friday morning. The gun was loaded with five bullets.

The gun was caught as the man, a resident of Chesapeake, Ohio, entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit alerted on the carry-on bag, which required a closer inspection. The firearm was removed by the local police, who confiscated the gun and cited the man on a weapons charge.

In addition to the criminal citation issued by the police, the man also faces a financial civil penalty from TSA. The penalty for carrying weapons was recently increased to a maximum of $15,000.

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage. Firearms must be unloaded then packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded.