Passenger stopped with loaded gun, ammo at Bradley airport

Transportation Security Administration officers caught a passenger with a loaded handgun at the Bradley International Airport checkpoint on Thursday, May, 16, 2019. The Florida man, who was arrested, was carrying a .22 caliber handgun in a fanny pack loaded with 10 bullets alongside a box with 50 additional rounds of ammunition. less Transportation Security Administration officers caught a passenger with a loaded handgun at the Bradley International Airport checkpoint on Thursday, May, 16, 2019. The Florida man, who was arrested, was ... more Photo: TSA Photo Photo: TSA Photo Image 1 of / 87 Caption Close Passenger stopped with loaded gun, ammo at Bradley airport 1 / 87 Back to Gallery

A Florida man was arrested Thursday after Transportation Security Administration officers at Bradley International Airport stopped him from boarding a plane with a loaded handgun.

The man was identified as David Charles Schultz, 74, of Plant City, Fla.

It marked the fourth gun confiscated at the Windsor Locks airport’s checkpoint this year. TSA officers caught nine firearms at the Bradley checkpoint in 2018.

TSA officers, who spotted the gun when Schultz’s fanny pack entered the X-ray machine, contacted State Police, who arrived at the checkpoint, confiscated the gun and bullets, and detained the man.

Schultz was taken for questioning before being arrested on state weapons charges. The man, who was not identified was carrying a .22 caliber handgun loaded with 10 bullets alongside a box with 50 additional rounds of ammunition.

He was also charged with tampering with airport equipment and released on a $500 bond. He will appear in Enfield Superior Court on May 30.

TSA also has the authority to assess civil penalties of up to $13,333 for weapons violations. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $3,900.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality.

Nationwide last year, 4,239 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging about 11.6 firearms per day, approximately a 7 percent increase nationally in firearm discoveries from the total of 3,957 detected in 2017.

Eighty-six percent of firearms detected at checkpoints last year were loaded and nearly 34% had a bullet in the chamber.

TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.