Norfolk woman cited after attempting to board flight with loaded gun

NORFOLK, Va. - A woman received a summons after attempting to carry a loaded gun on a flight.

Transportation Security Administration officers at Norfolk International Airport stopped a local woman from carrying a loaded handgun onto her flight on Tuesday.

TSA officers stopped the Norfolk woman when her carry-on bag triggered an alarm in the security checkpoint X-ray unit.

TSA alerted the Norfolk Airport Authority Police. They responded to the checkpoint, confiscated the handgun, and issued the woman a summons on a weapons violation.

Police say the gun was loaded with eight bullets. The case will be forwarded to the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.

Passengers can travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

This year, TSA has already detected 12 guns from the Norfolk airport. In 2021, 23 guns were detected.

Last year, 5,972 firearms were caught at airport security checkpoints nationwide. 86% of those guns were loaded.

Firearms caught by TSA officers at Norfolk International Airport checkpoints, 2016 to 2022