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TSA catches record number of guns at Charlotte airport in 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two men with loaded handguns were prevented from passing through security checkpoints Tuesday at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to officials with the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA officials said the incidents marked the 59th and 60th guns that officers have caught at the airport in 2017, surpassing last year’s total of 54 guns found.

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Officials said the first gun was discovered Tuesday morning when a TSA officer operating an X-ray machine spotted a .45-caliber gun loaded with five bullets in a shoulder bag belonging to a man from Charlotte.

The second firearm was found during the afternoon, officials said, when a Rockwell man was found to have a 9-millimeter handgun in his briefcase while going through a security checkpoint.

In each incident, TSA officials said they notified the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and officers arrived at the airport and confiscated the weapons.

Officials said CMPD officers detained the men for questioning and cited each of them on a state weapons charge.

TSA officials said both men claimed they forgot they were carrying the guns on them.

"If someone owns a firearm, they should know where it is at all times," said Kevin Frederick, TSA's North Carolina federal security director. "The TSA officers here at Charlotte are good at their jobs, as evidenced by these gun catches. However, we would rather that people pack their guns properly for travel or leave them home."

The two incidents are not believed to be related, officials said.

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