CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Wyoming County man was allegedly caught with a loaded handgun at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says officers at the airport caught the man with a .32 caliber loaded handgun with six bullets, including one in the chamber, in his carry-on bag December 11.
According to officials the officers spotted the gun on the X-ray monitor as the man's carry-on bag went through. Police took possession of the gun and cited the man.
“If you own a firearm and want to travel with it, we ask that you do so in the safest way possible,” said Bart R. Johnson, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Upstate New York. “That means making sure the gun is unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided case and declared with the airline. The airline representative will make sure that the firearm is transported securely in the belly of the aircraft.”
Officials say a typical first offense for carrying a loaded handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100 and can go as high as $13,669 depending on any mitigating circumstances.
