NEWARK — An air passenger bound for Detroit was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport Thursday evening after a security screener spotted a loaded 9 mm handgun in the man's carry-on bag, authorities said today.

The passenger – identified by Port Authority police as Matthew Clark Vanpelt, 41, of Mt. Dora, Fla. – was passing through a checkpoint in Terminal C shortly before 6 p.m. when the screener detected the weapon with an X-ray machine, said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

The handgun, which was confiscated, contained 10 rounds of ammunition, including one bullet that was chambered, Farbstein said.

Port Authority officers charged Vanpelt with unlawful possession of a weapon. He was later released on his own recognizance, said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the bi-state agency.

The arrest had no impact on airport operations, Farbstein said.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, secured in a locked, hard-side case and packed separately from ammunition. Passengers traveling with weapons also must have appropriate permits.

Authorities said Vanpelt legally owned the handgun under Florida law.

Vanpelt was the first person in 2013 arrested in a New Jersey airport for firearms possession, Farbstein said. On Jan. 21, a Connecticut man was charged with carrying a gun inside John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Last year, the TSA intercepted more than 1,500 firearms at airport checkpoints across the country.

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