I wonder what the odds of being prosecuted for accidentally bringing a gun through a TSA checkpoint are for someone who isn’t a government official.
Bingo!
That is the true "take-away" of this article!
Regards,
In Colorado last year, there were 167 people held/questioned about a firearm found in carry-on.
Many of those people made their flight.
In this case, it was unusual that she was held so long (either 24 or 48 hours, I don’t recall.
In Colorado, you can Conceal Carry in the airport. You cannot go through the TSA checkpoint, however.
I was returning from overseas as an active duty service member at the time. This was quite a few years ago. I had my POW (Read: Privately Owned Weapon) legally checked in my checked luggage in accordance with Delta Airlines policy. The firearm was in a locked container with no ammo. My checked kit bag had a red tag on it clearly marked “Fire Arm” with appropriate numbers that the airline required at the time.
Upon arriving at JFK I picked up my kit bag at the international terminal and had to carry it to the domestic terminal for my flight home. Of course this change required my bag to go through the xray machine again. I of course had my paperwork readily available for the TSA agent screening the bag. Keep in mind, there was this red tag on the bag indicating “Fire Arm”. I went through the personal screen and waited for my bag.
The next thing I heard from this female agent looking through the xray machine was “Gun! Gun! Gun! Gun! Gun! as about 5 police officers descended on the scene with drawn weapons and passagers unsure weather to hit the floor or run for the exits. I just stood there as I was required to id the bag as mine and feeling like a fool. They took me off to the side, looked over my paperwork and opened my bag. They then proceeded to inspect my fire arm to ensure it was unloaded and no ammo was in the bag. Of course I had to but all my belongings back in the bag that were strewn all over this counter top. It took about 30 minutes for them to verify that the paperwork from Delta Airlines and my military id card were valid and I damn near missed my next flight home.
This is a perfect example of totally poor coordination between local, federal, and airline agents.
If you check a fire arm legally be prepared.