WHITE PLAINS, NY — A Georgia man was arrested after attempting to bring a loaded gun onto a flight at Westchester County Airport on Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
A TSA officer discovered the pistol when the man’s backpack was going through an X-ray and alerted the Westchester County Police Department at around 2:30 p.m. Police confiscated the gun and arrested the man for questioning before arresting him, the director of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, public information, Kieran O’Leary said in an email Monday.
The 9mm pistol was loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber, TSA said in a press release.
The man was later identified as Michael Nichols, 49, of Norcross, Georgia, who was attempting to board a flight bound for Atlanta. Police determined that Nichols has a valid Georgia carrier license. According to O’Leary, however, this approval does not apply in New York.
Police charged Nichols with criminal possession of a firearm. He was later released and is scheduled to appear in court next month, O’Leary added.
The Georgia man also faces a federal financial civil penalty for taking a gun to an airport security checkpoint, which can amount to thousands of dollars, according to the TSA.
This is the third handgun TSA officials have stopped at the Westchester airport checkpoint this year.
“Bringing a loaded handgun to a TSA security checkpoint is serious business,” said Robert Duffy, TSA’s federal security director for the airport. “Our officers are good at preventing prohibited items and lethal weapons from getting past checkpoints, and anyone attempting to bring a weapon into a flight faces a federal civil penalty.”
However, guns are not entirely banned on flights. According to the TSA, a gun can be carried on a flight if it is unloaded, packed in a locked hard case, and declared to the airline. At the airport, a passenger must go to the airline ticket counter at check-in to declare the firearm, ammunition and all firearm parts.
“The airline will be assured that the gun travels in checked baggage in the belly of the plane, never in the cabin of the plane,” TSA said.
According to the TSA, replica guns are also prohibited in carry-on baggage and must be carried in checked baggage.
Travelers with or without a license to carry a concealed weapon may face civil penalties if they take a firearm on an aircraft. Individuals violating the rules for traveling with guns will have certain expedited screening benefits revoked, such as: B. TSA PreCheck and Trusted Traveler Status.
Liz Hardaway can be reached at liz.hardaway@hearst.com
