A Clayton County official has decided that after seeing 62 travelers arrested so far this year and charged with bringing guns to the security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, it’s time to get tough.
Henceforth, anyone who is caught bringing a firearm through airport security can forget about ever getting the gun back, Clayton Solicitor General Tasha Mosley tells Channel 2 Action News. The weapon will be destroyed, she said.
Offenders have included business executives, students and even a former assistant district attorney.
When an airport security officer spots a gun on an X-ray scan, the weapon is seized and its owner arrested. The immediate consequence is to be charged with a crime, booked into Clayton County Jail for at least an overnight stay and assigned a future court date – as well as missing one’s flight.
The usual excuse is that the traveler didn’t intend to break the law; the person simply forgot about the gun in a briefcase or carry-on bag.
“These are 62 people I should not have to see,” Mosley said. “To prevent this crime, all it requires you to do is be attentive.”
The new policy will apply whether a defendant pleads guilty, is convicted at trial or enters a pre-trial intervention program.
This year through the end of October, the TSA confiscated 940 guns at airport security checkpoints across the country, Channel 2 reports.
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