Loaded Gun Found in Carry-on at Santa Barbara Airport

By edhat staff

A loaded gun was found in the carry-on luggage of a traveler at Santa Barbara Airport on Sunday evening, reports KEYT News.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stated at around 4:20 a.m., the 9 mm Glock handgun was discovered during an X-ray screening. It was loaded with seven rounds of ammunition in the carry-on bag of a person traveling to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

TSA reported it to the Santa Barbara Police Department who contacted and interviewed the unnamed traveler, who is expected to face state charges for carrying a concealed weapon, according to KEYT.

TSA rules state travelers are allowed to travel with firearms that are unloaded and safely packed in checked luggage. The firearm and/or ammunition must be declared to the airline when checking the bag at the ticket counter. The container must completely secure the firearm from being accessed. Locked cases that can be easily opened are not permitted.

Additionally, travelers must comply with the laws concerning possession of firearms as they vary by local, state and international governments. Full details from the TSA concerning traveling with a firearm can be found here.

Edhat Staff

Written by Edhat Staff

What do you think?

Comments

10 Comments deleted by Administrator

Leave a Review or Comment

67 Comments

  1. 2021 was a banner year for firearm sales. The expectation is that 2022 will most likely easily surpass 2021. Even the good citizens of San Francisco are buying handguns in droves. Lotta guns out there…be careful people and take an NRA safety class!!!

  2. PIT – do you think this was accidental? If so, that is terrifying. Who packs a loaded gun into their carry-on bag unintentionally? Answer: Someone who is extremely careless (or intoxicated) and shouldn’t own a gun in the first place.

  3. RHS – for the most part, the “anti-mask crowd” IS the “gun toter crowd.” I know many anti-vaxxers here and around the country and every, single, solitary one of them is also a card-carrying “gun toter.” It’s the “old west” mentality. Freedumbs!

  4. Yes sac, freedom is dumb. We should retire the bill of rights and empower the government to play a larger role in our lives. We will all be safer, healthier, and happier without so called “civil liberties” preventing the government from helping us.

  5. CHIP – No, freedom is not dumb, but refusing to wear a mask on an airplane is dumb. Refusing to get vaccinated and demand that people allow you to be in close contact with them is dumb. Packing a loaded Glock in your carry on is dumb. Defending (through sarcasm) these actions as expressions of “civil liberties” is….. guess what I’m going to say.

  6. Sac, your beliefs are obviously more reasoned and more correct than the beliefs of other people. Imposing YOUR beliefs on others would be so wonderful that it would justify cancelling the bill of rights in order to compel everyone to comport with you worldview. However, there is a risk. What if all the “dumb” people you are talking about turned the tables on you and used the same power against you. You would no longer enjoy the freedom make your own choices. Can you imagine if you were forbidden by law from wearing a mask on plane, or even outdoors in public spaces? Even worse, can you image if the “freedumbers” outlawed covid vaccines and you were unable to get a booster shot ever again? At least in our system of governance you can do what you know is best for yourself, even if you can’t force others to do the same.

  7. Its legal to check an unloaded gun into your luggage to be stowed in the baggage compartment.
    Usually people have no magazine in the gun, lock through the chamber so it cannot be loaded, in a locked case.
    People grab the wrong bag, and/or they don’t empty the bag before packing. That happens accidentally over 3000 times a year.
    If the gun is loaded with a chambered round, the fine is over $13,000
    “TSA spokesperson Sari Koshetz says the surge in gun confiscations is partially because more people own guns and also because many are flying for the first time since the start of the pandemic. “They are leaving home in a stressed state without focusing on exactly where their gun is,” Koshetz says. Even in accidental cases, Koshetz says the “danger of this trend is amplified by the fact that many of the loaded weapons also have a round chambered, and an accidental discharge could have tragic results.”

  8. who stores a loaded firearm in a piece of luggage? Murphys law pretty much NEVER applies to firearms cause you are supposed to be a responsible owner.
    gezzus this isnt forgetting your socks, its a loaded weapon. murphy? murphy?

  9. The circumstances dictate whether carrying a loaded gun on a plane is a good idea or not. It’s an easy mistake to make for those who carry concealed. Depending on the circumstances I don’t think the punishment should be much more than asking someone to go put their firearm in a checked bag and then come back to board their flight. In addition, think it’s counterproductive to prohibit off duty law enforcement from carrying on planes. As far as masks go, I don’t think wearing masks will prevent you from getting covid. No matter how much you wear your mask, you are going to be exposed to covid. I hope your case is mild/asymptomatic.

  10. Geeze, Chip. If you have to ask someone on a plane to deplane, retrieve their luggage, stow their weapon, and reboard while everyone else is delayed, well that sucks. And if the person with the weapon has been downing a few brewskis in the airport lounge, do you really want to be the person who has to deal with that guy? Nice fantasy life you got going there. Let us know how it turns out.

  11. 4:38 When the circumstances are that it’s a serious violation of the law, and endangers others, as is the case if it involves firearms, then the perpetrator should be prosecuted to the maximum. It’s called being responsible for one’s actions. Actions have consequences. Sound familiar? Or is this just another double standard you maintain as for the “tourist” visits on January 6?
    And you are once again spreading lies about masks. Par for the course.

  12. What I should have said isn’t to outlaw guns, but to have safety test, similar to a driver’s license, as a requirement for ownership. This maroon doesn’t appear to be part of a well regulated militia, and if he was, he should be kicked out for stupidity.

  13. No one does this by accident. You don’t just forget a loaded Glock in your carry on. Also there are 50 signs telling you what can’t be in there and that’s clear on the sign. If this person was too cheap to check a bag and thought they could sneak it through they are too dumb to own a gun. And who the hell goes to SB airport at 4:00am?

  14. Sac – I’m not anti vax but am obviously quite critical of all things related to Covid hysteria. That being said I’m also a big proponent of making gun restrictions stronger. We have (and worship) guns to a terrifying and insane degree in the US. So I guess I represent a small subset… anti guns and anti blanket mask mandates.

  15. DOULIE – One shouldn’t carry a gun, it’s 2022 and we’re a “civilized” country. Other than that, what’s your point? I don’t care if it’s loaded or not, it’s a childish thing to do and is the exact reason we need stricter gun laws. Anyone who does this, has no business owning a gun, period. This is illegal. So much for another “law abiding gun owner.”

  16. Nobody who is safety conscious (but still unconscious enough to own a handgun) would get a Glock. They are the poster child for accidental discharge because the safety is incorporated into the trigger, making it a nice single point failure if anything, say a pencil in a carry on bag, catches the trigger.

  17. A record year for TSA seizure of firearms in airport security checks (well over 5,000). 85% of the guns were loaded! Most seizures are at, surprise, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston. The gun fetish thing is pretty remarkable. I am thankful for TSA in this context. Imagine how the unmasked folks also setting records for attacking airline personnel who ask them to comply with the rules might behave if they had their gun at hand. (And, yes, l do think the anti-mask crowd is pretty closely matched to the gun toter crowd.)

  18. Chip, “It’s an easy mistake to make for those who carry concealed”?!!
    What about “responsible gun ownership”? What about being careful? What about following federal law when flying?
    Hard to believe you’re justifying this crime by saying it’s an easy mistake to make.

  19. 9:53 _ Claiming that the constitution is not a “fluid” document, and then ignoring what the words meant at the time it was written is a great example of cognitive dissonance. And what’s that nonsense about getting “paid to ignore and belittle”? It’s more than obvious that you choose to ignore the meaning of “well regulated militia”.

  20. If she did that Marcelk she would have commented on the law and constitutional principles rather than repeating gross misinformation from the bench like 100,000 children are hospitalized for covid (under 3,000 is accurate).

  21. à Marcelk :
    Inform yourself about what you’re talking about.
    Her PUBLIC comments about Covid and Vaccination were TOTALLY RIDICULOUS as well as completely FALSE.
    If you’re happy with Justices who have NO IDEA what they’re talking about : good luck to you ! Doesn’t fit on the Supreme Court as far as I’m concerned

  22. BABY – crickets, eh? Yeah, it’s fun to just waltz in and make grand proclamations and insults then run away when asked for reasoning or evidence. Grown ups are talking here though. Stay at the kids’ table, m’kay champ?

  23. https://health.ucdavis.edu/vprp/UCFC/Fact_Sheets/CSaWSBrief_InjPrev_Kravitz-Wirtz.pdf
    Gun ownership and CA
    1 in 4 live in a household with a gun
    Living on the coast, we forget how rural some of CA is (rural people tend to own more guns, A hand gun and a rifle to be exact)
    A number of people who own 10+ guns might be fetishists or collectors, but some probably have .22 handgun and long gun for cheap practice, different shotguns for different birds and/or sporting clay.
    They may also have different rifles for different types of hunting etc and would prefer to be called “enthusiasts”

  24. “The data” is skewed as every single firearm injury is documented where as crime thwarted by an armed citizen is not tabulated. Cops say, “God job.” and no reports are filed. I’m very glad my 87 year old grandfather was armed when alone and attacked on the farm.

  25. Chip all you’re doing is blowing your “I HAVE A RIGHT TO OWN A GUN” trumpet and no one gives a damn. chew on this fat for a while. you do not have a right to possess a loaded fire arm on a commercial flight. i know that’s really hard to wrap your mind around. i mean…sheesh how dare they…

  26. CHIP…it’s NOT a good idea. are you trying to get your name blacklisted with TSA? I’m sure they would love to hear your reasoning and defense for carrying a firearm on a plane. how about we make a call to DHS together and i’ll wait with you?

  27. “your beliefs are obviously more reasoned and more correct than the beliefs of other people”
    Certainly more so than those of *some* other people … lookin’ at you, kid.
    “cancelling the bill of rights”
    There ya go. You’re not even talking about the Bill of Rights, you’re talking about Scalia’s opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, bought and paid for by the NRA, that went against all established fact and law.
    Here’s James Madison’s original draft of the Second Amendment: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, a well-armed and well-regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.” Militia, security, military service, religion … what? Wait … what’s that bit about conscientious objectors doing there? Ah, it’s because “bearing arms” meant carrying weapons into war:
    https://www.etymonline.com/word/arm
    “”weapon,” c. 1300, armes (plural) “weapons of a warrior,” from Old French armes (plural), “arms, weapons; war, warfare” (11c.), from Latin arma “weapons” (including armor), literally “tools, implements (of war),” from PIE *ar(ə)mo-, suffixed form of root *ar- “to fit together.” The notion seems to be “that which is fitted together.”
    Meaning “branch of military service” is from 1798, hence “branch of any organization” (by 1952). Meaning “heraldic insignia” (in coat of arms, etc.) is early 14c., from Old French; originally they were borne on shields of fully armed knights or barons. To be up in arms figuratively is from 1704; to bear arms “do military service” is by 1640s.”
    See, “arms” was not a synonym for “guns” … the word for that was “fire-arm”. And what about “keep”? Where were arms kept? Oh, that’s right … in *armories*.

  28. SAC – My point is, for the passenger, legal to carry or not, it’s quite dumb for a person to carry an unloaded gun if it’s to be used as a defensive weapon. Forgetful or not, the passenger screwed up by leaving it in their baggage and will have to answer for this. If allowed to carry, and needed, what does a person do with an unloaded gun? Throw the gun at a suspect? You might want to advertise throughout the country we are “civilized” and people should no longer use their guns during homicides, assaults, robberies, carjackings, etc., etc. Please explain how legally carrying a gun is “childish.”
    How would you make the gun law “stricter?”

  29. DOULIE – yes, I agree an unloaded gun is useless, but still not sure how that matters here. How is packing a loaded gun into your carry-on bag “childish?” Uh….. because it’s not something that a rational, responsible adult would do. Or maybe, to think they “need protection” whilst on a plane is childish and indicative of a paranoid outlook wherein the gun owner thinks they’re some kind of super hero or something. It’s certainly not exhibitive of a responsible adult mindset. How to make it “stricter?” Easy. For an offense like this, mandatory jail time and confiscation of any firearms and rights to purchase firearms for a period of time. Give our gun laws some teeth to deter stupidity like this. It IS possible to change, you just have to try.

  30. You keep your gun in a bag in your closet. Also some of your travel gear. You take it with you while you are driving around just in case you have to shoot it out with some hostiles. Then when you need to travel by plane, you don’t think twice about what you have in the bag.
    As the saying goes- No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

  31. SAC – I doubt we’d (ever) find a “child” place a loaded gun in their carry on luggage. You can label this act in many ways, “childish” is not one of them. How about we wait and learn exactly why this gun was in the carry on luggage rather than speculate? You ever do something not expected of “a rational, responsible” adult?

  32. Someone leaves a firearm in their check-in bag, and some of you folks are losing it. This kind of thing happens allllll the time, and will continue to happen as more and more Americans feel unsafe and buying up handguns (and other guns as well) in record/record numbers. No one hurt. No one injured. Not a big deal to me, but then I’m not driven by my emotions. When you let your emotions get the best of you, then it’s time to take a big breath of air and get out for a walk on the beach. Really, we live in a mostly beautiful city where you can enjoy life without all of the problems in places like Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and New York City. Again….Deeeeep Breath….walk on beach…..reeee-lax…enjoy yourself and know that you have no control over what someone else thinks or does. Now, breath in slowly……exhale….oh yeahhhhhhh!

  33. DOULIE – I’ve done plenty of “childish” things as an adult, but that has positively, absolutely zero, nothing, nada, to do with this situation. Adult logic. So, in what situation would this be anything other than irresponsible? What circumstances would you approve of?

  34. You are really confused.
    Trying to SECOND guess what the founding fathers were trying to say is nonsense.
    The constitution is not some “fluid” document.
    Resorting to a bunch of words that don’t even mean the same thing anymore.
    All I did was read the “stretch of your imagination”,because you are so full of hate for people who take care of themselve,THAT is lunacy.
    Now, go ahead and make some snotty remark about some obscure thing so you can win this conversation.
    Waiting….
    P.S. would have been nice if someone “packing” was on those planes on 911.
    Unlike some posters here, I don’t get paid to ignore and belittle the constitution.
    It’s more than obvious.

  35. BABYCAKES – you’re not reading the comments, are you? Not many are “losing it” over the actual situation here, but rather having a spirited debate with those defending his actions by excusing them as not a big deal.

  36. 4:36 AM is just spreading more fog, typical of his “I believe only what I want to believe” attitude and reliance on anecdote. Decades of handgun studies found that the FUD about people merely brandishing firearms and scaring away assailants were grossly exaggerated by the NRA propagandists. They also found that wherever you were, urban or rural, owning a handgun meant you and your immediate family were in more danger than if you didn’t have one.

Community Joins 1/9 Debris Flow Remembrance Ceremony

UCSB Grad Student Develops Rapid Test Omicron Variant