PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday it caught a Maine man with a loaded handgun at an airport security checkpoint.
The TSA said the man was a Poland, Maine, resident who had the gun tucked in the outer pocket of a canvas messenger bag. The man told officials he had forgot he brought the gun with him to Portland International Jetport, the agency said.
An x-ray machine allowed a TSA officer to detect the gun, which was confiscated. The TSA said the man was questioned and eventually allowed to return the firearm to his vehicle and come back to take his flight. The agency did not name the man.
The TSA said it was the third gun this year to be caught at the airport checkpoint. More than 4,000 firearms were found in carry-on bags at checkpoints in the United States last year.
The TSA reminds airport passengers they are allowed to travel with firearms in checked baggage if the firearms are declared and packaged in accordance with law.
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