ROANOKE — A Fairlawn woman was cited on a weapons charge Tuesday after she allegedly attempted to take a loaded handgun onto a flight out of Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

A press release from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not identify the woman or specify the weapons violation for which she was charged, but it does identify her as being a resident of Fairlawn.

According to the press release, police were called when a .380-caliber handgun loaded with six bullets was found in the woman’s carry-on luggage. A TSA officer spotted the handgun with a checkpoint X-ray machine.

In addition to the weapons charge, the woman faces up to $14,000 in federal civil fines for bringing the loaded gun to a security checkpoint.

“Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Guns on their person or accessible in their carry-on property are illegal. When a gun is detected at the screening checkpoint the result is a significant fine with potential criminal charges filed on the passenger,” said Robin “Chuck” Burke, TSA’s federal security director for the airport.

Passengers intending to take a firearm with them when traveling by air can review TSA guidelines for doing so at tsa.gov.

The agency points out federal civil penalties are issued in cases such as Tuesday’s because “TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint.” Mitigating circumstances can reduce the amount of the penalty.

TSA goes on to point out the consequences for having a gun in a piece of carry-on luggage apply to those with and without concealed carry permits because firearms cannot be carried onto an airplane. Passengers who are TSA PreCheck authorized will lose their PreCheck designation if they attempt to carry a firearm onto a flight.

The firearm confiscated Tuesday was the 32nd firearm to be located at the Roanoke airport since 2016, according to TSA. On average, five are confiscated each year.

Nationwide, just under 6,000 guns were found at security checkpoints in 2021. Eight-six percent were loaded.

Justine Farlow didn’t take a typical path to a nursing career.  In fact, she worked a

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