A passenger was caught last week attempting to board a flight in Maine Use a hatchet with a homemade gun in his carry-on bagAccording to TSA.
TSA officers at the Portland International Jetport in Portland, MaineOn Tuesday, the objects were found by their owner. Portland Police responded to the call and took possession of the gun, New England TSA spokesman Daniel Velez said.
Velez told MassLive that the passenger was a 50-year-old man headed to Philadelphia. The hatchet was permitted to be kept by Velez, but he had to transport it to his checked baggage.
Velez stated that this was the third firearm detector at Portland International Jetport. in Portland, this year.
This discovery was made just days before an announcement by TSA that it has recorded a record number of firearms found at airport security checkpoints nationwide this year.
Effective Dec. 16th, a TSA press release states, the agency has prevented 6,301 firearms from getting past security checkpoints this year – adding that more than 88% of them were loaded. That’s up from 5,972 firearms detected at security checkpoints last year.
TSA The maximum civil penalty for firearms violations has been increased to $14.950. This is determined case by case. “based on the circumstances in each case.”
