LATROBE, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Hollidaysburg man was stopped at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport with a loaded handgun Thursday as he tried to board his plane, the TSA announced.

The man, who was not identified, was caught with a 9mm handgun loaded with six bullets. He told officials that the gun belonged to his wife, with whom he was traveling.

After being spotted in the checkpoint x-ray machine, police were alerted, preventing the couple from boarding with the gun.

“Part of being a responsible gun owner is knowing where your firearm is at all times,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Not knowing that you’re carrying a deadly weapon is inexcusable.”

Travelers are allowed to transport their firearms as checked baggage if they are properly packed and declared at their airline ticket counter to be transported in the belly of the plane with checked baggage.

Nationwide, TSA officers detected 5,972 firearms on passengers or their carry-on bags at checkpoints last year. Of the guns caught by TSA in 2022, about 86 percent were loaded.