Guns in Airport Carry-on Bags
601 views · Published 15 June 2013 · 2:03 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: WLOS News 13 · 2013 · News & Politics
One local airport is seeing a drastic increase in passengers coming to security checkpoints with guns in their carry-on bags. Officials at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport (GSP) say that so far this year, 12 people have been caught at the checkpoint with weapons in their carry-ons. That is on pace to nearly triple the amount of incidents last year at the same airport. If you present here at the airport and you are attempting to take a firearm through the screening checkpoint...you will be charged with violating rules and regulations of the airport, which carries a $473 fine. Then you'll be subject to civil penalties by TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, and those could be significant fines, says Rosilyn Weston, VP of Communications for GSP Airport. Depending on circumstances, you could face jail time.Ignorance of the law, or simply forgetting the weapon is in your bag, won't help you.That's not an excuse. The fact that you didn't know doesn't prohibit you from being prosecuted and/or fined, says Weston.Beyond the civil penalties, you'll also face some difficulties as a gun owner.If [you] hold a concealed weapons permit, we do send it to SLED and it will be revoked. The firearms occasionally are returned. Majority of the time they're destroyed, says Capt. Mitchell Cole of the GSP Airport Police.Some passengers say they can understand how%2 _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anchormoms-the-podcast Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8Ge6UXHJs&list=PLkVbaoT-aYbIvnEpR0Ct5QQQqYaORUSUH For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
