An Owings Mills man traveling to Atlanta was arrested at the airport Thursday after authorities said he tried to carry a handgun past a security checkpoint.
Transportation Security Administration officers detected the gun in the man's carry-on items as he was passing through the checkpoint at Baltimore Washington International-Thurgood Marshall Airport, the agency said in a statement.
Maryland Transportation Authority Police responded to the checkpoint and confiscated the firearm and arrested the man. He told police he was bringing the gun to his mother's home for safe-keeping, TSA officials said.
An MdTA police spokesman identified the man as Earl Smith, 33. He was charged with wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun upon and about their person, and interfering with security procedures.
Smith could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon and did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
Firearms, firearm parts and ammunition are not permitted in carry-on bags, but can be taken in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline.
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