NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — On Tuesday, Feb. 13, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers prevented a Norfolk man from boarding a flight with a .38 caliber revolver loaded with five bullets.

The gun was detected when the X-ray machine alerted on the man’s carry-on bag as he entered the security checkpoint.

After closer inspection, police removed the gun and cited the man on a weapons charge. The man faces a stiff financial penalty for bringing a weapon to the checkpoint that could reach $15,000 depending on the circumstances.

Additionally, the case will be forwarded to the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage. The guns must be unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case, the locked case has to be declared at the airline check-in counter.

“The gun was packed in a hard-sided gun case, but it was loaded and was intercepted at the checkpoint by our TSA officers,” said Robin “Chuck” Burke, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Had the gun been unloaded and declared at the airline check-in counter to be transported with checked baggage in the belly of the plane, there would have been no issue. But to bring a loaded gun to a checkpoint is inexcusable because you cannot bring a firearm onto a flight. Firearms need to be unloaded and packed in a locked in a hard-sided case for transport in the cargo hold with the rest of the checked bags.”

In 2023, 6,735 firearms were caught at airport security checkpoints nationwide and 93 percent of them were loaded.