JOEL BANNER BAIRD

A Florida-bound traveler was cleared for takeoff Monday at Burlington International Airport — but without the handgun he said he mistakenly left in a carry-on bag, according to security and law enforcement officials.

Police filed no charges after the incident.

But the 46-year-old man faces a fine of up to $3,000 for violating air-travel regulations, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Michael S. McCarthy told the Free Press on Tuesday.

Security check-point workers detained the man and alerted police after they found an unloaded .22 caliber Bernardelli pistol in his carry-on luggage, McCarthy said.

The officers who interviewed the traveler "found all indications to suggest that this was a good citizen who made a stupid mistake," Burlington Police Deputy Chief Bruce Bovat said.

The Chittenden County resident, "a mild-mannered guy," told police that he inadvertently left the weapon in a duffel he normally takes on weekend excursions to rural areas, Bovat added.

The man, whom neither Bovat nor McCarthy would identify, caught his flight to Orlando.

He can reclaim his handgun when he next sets foot in Vermont, Bovat said.

The incident was the first of its kind at the South Burlington-based airport for this calendar year, according to a TSA news statement.

An initial disclosure of the event by the agency included guidelines for the transportation of guns:

• "Firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags, but can be transported in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline.

• "Every time TSA discovers a firearm in a bag at the checkpoint it delays the screening process for all travelers at the checkpoint.

• "Individuals who bring firearms to security checkpoints are referred to law enforcement and are subject to criminal penalties. TSA has the ability to impose a civil penalty. Fines can range from $1,500 up to $11,000 for a single civil penalty for firearms brought to a security checkpoint."

So far this year, the agency detected more than 1,000 firearms at checkpoints around the country, the release added.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@FreePressMedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vtgoingup.