Man Caught With Gun Owned By Girlfriend's Uncle At Reagan National

ARLINGTON, VA — An Idaho man was the first person to try to bring a gun onto a flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in 2024.

Travis Russell Tarleton, 30 of Boise, Idaho, was prevented from bringing a .22 caliber handgun onto his flight on Tuesday, according to officials. The gun, which was not loaded, was located in the Tarleton’s backpack.

Tarleton told officials that he did not realize he was carrying a gun and said it belonged to his girlfriend’s uncle, the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.

The TSA said Tarleton “did not explain how a gun that he said he did not own came to be in his possession.”

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police cited the man on a weapons charge. He also faces a financial civil penalty for bringing a gun to a TSA security checkpoint.

“Before heading to the airport, we encourage people to start with an empty bag when packing for the airport,” John Busch, TSA’s federal security director for the airport, said in a statement. “It’s equally important to pack your own bag so that you know the contents of what you are carrying, and you know with certainty that there is nothing prohibited inside.”

The gun confiscated from the Idaho man marks the first of 2024, following a year in 2023 when TSA officers confiscated a record number of guns — mostly loaded — that passengers tried to bring on flights at Reagan National Airport.

Thirty-nine guns were confiscated by security officials at Reagan National Airport in 2023, shattering the previous record of 30 guns confiscated at the airport in 2021.

Guns are not permitted through the security checkpoint, and the Idaho man faces a financial civil penalty from TSA. The penalty for carrying weapons can reach a maximum of $15,000.

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage. Firearms must be unloaded and then packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case must be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared, according to the TSA.