NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) --A Florida man was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport after officers discovered a loaded pistol in his carry-on bag Monday, Transportation Security Administration officials said.
A TSA officer spotted the loaded handgun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, and Port Authority Police swiftly arrested the man on a state weapons charge, officials said.
The man said that he did not "realize that he was traveling with his loaded gun in his carry-on bag," officials said. Along with a weapons charge, the man faces a federal financial civil penalty for bringing a gun to a security checkpoint.
The civil penalty for bringing a weapon to a TSA checkpoint can cost upwards of $15,000.
This year, three guns have been caught at Newark Liberty International Airport checkpoints. Guns can be transported on a flight, but they must be unloaded, packed into a special case, and declared to the airline, officials said.
Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
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