DAUPHIN COUNTY — The Transportation Safety Administration said Wednesday that its agents stopped two men from bringing guns onto airplanes in the last three days at Harrisburg International Airport.
It was the third and fourth such incidents at HIA this year, the TSA said.
Last year, TSA agents stopped six guns from getting onto planes at the airport, according to the TSA.
On Wednesday morning, TSA members stopped a Chambersburg man with a loaded .40 caliber handgun in his backpack at a security checkpoint at HIA. And on Monday, a Salt Lake City man was stopped by TSA officers with a 9mm handgun, two magazine clips loaded with 14 bullets each, and 50 additional bullets in his carry-on bag, according to the TSA. The Salt Lake City man’s gun was discovered as the bag went through an X-ray machine.
The gun was not loaded, the TSA said.
In each instance, TSA officers notified the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority Police, which came to the checkpoint and cited the men on weapons charges.
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared, according to the TSA. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition, the TSA said. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality.
