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Portland airport scare: TSA discovers homemade gun and hatchet inside traveler's carry-on baggage

The agency informed that it is going to raise the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 to $14,950

PORTLAND, MAINE: The Transportation Security Administration, (TSA) at the Portland International Jetport in Maine found a homemade gun and a hatchet in a man’s carry-on bag on December 14. The passenger had tried to clear through an airport checkpoint, according to the official TSA New England account. Spokesperson Dan Velez  gave more information through his Twitter handle. "Yesterday @portlandjetport, @TSA officers detected this homemade firearm in a man's carry-on bag," he wrote. "They also found a hatchet in the bag."

As per Transportation Security Administration, the officials contacted the Portland Police Department immediately, and the cops confiscated the homemade weapon. There’s been a surge in such incidents and this was the third "firearm detection" at Portland International Jetport this year alone. TSA also took to Twitter while flagging other weapons that some of the travelers tried sneaking in improperly at Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport recently. "A couple of nice carry-on bag detections by our @TSA officers @Bradley_Airport yesterday. This double-edged knife and replica gun lighter are items that should be properly packed in your checked bag. #travelfail, another tweet from Velez, this time on December 16.

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As per US traveling rules, travelers can carry their firearms with them, but they must abide by set TSA guidelines for proper transport. A passenger is required to first unload them before packing the items in hard-sided containers and "placing them in their checked bags." Furthermore, the weapons must be declared at the airport ticket counter itself as soon as they reach airports for onboarding. "Firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags at the checkpoint and onboard aircraft. When a passenger brings a firearm to the checkpoint, this consumes significant security resources and poses a potential threat to transportation security, in addition to being very costly for the passenger," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske in a statement  on the TSA website.

The Transportation Security Administration shared on December 16, that the authority confiscated a record-high number of weapons at checkpoints across the US in 2022. According to the agency, its security agents confiscated 6.301 firearms, where 88% of which were loaded, from travelers this year. TSA anticipates that at least another 500 will be confiscated before the beginning of next year. As per official stats, the number of confiscated cases rose to 10% in comparison to last year’s 5,972 firearms cases. The agency informed that is going to raise the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 to $14,950, hoping to deter law breakers.