John F. Kennedy International Airport made it all the way to February 10 before someone tried smuggling a loaded gun through security this year.
WTNH reports a woman from Greenwich, Connecticut, brought a loaded .22 caliber handgun onto the premises on Friday. The woman was not ticketed to fly but was provided a gate pass to help her child through the checkpoints and to get to their gate.
The woman was instead taken to jail instead after Transportation Security Administration agents discovered the weapon. She now faces a civil penalty that could cost her up to $15,000.
John Essig, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, told the outlet, “Our TSA team at JFK perform their jobs exceptionally well with a keen focus to our mission.”
“When dangerous items such as loaded guns are brought to a security checkpoint, it represents a serious safety concern. When a bullet is in the chamber of the firearm, it is an accident waiting to happen,” he continued. “Nobody is permitted to carry a firearm through a checkpoint — not a gate pass holder, not someone with a concealed weapons permit, not a traveler.”
This is the first incident concerning a loaded gun so far this year. TSA officials say last year they caught seven.