By Jennifer Edwards
Enquirer staff writer

Transportation Security Administration screeners at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport intercepted a passenger with a loaded .38-caliber revolver earlier this month, TSA officials said Friday.

A spokesman for the airport identified the passenger as Mary Smith but said her age and address weren't available Friday.

The loaded gun, found Aug. 9 in the woman's carry-on bag, is the second discovered during passenger screening at the airport this year and among 1,800 prohibited items intercepted by airport screeners in the first 16 days of August, according to TSA.

In addition, nine handguns that were not properly declared for transport in checked baggage, some of which were loaded, have been detected during checked baggage screening procedures.

The woman said her husband stores the handgun in a closet where the bag is kept, and she was unaware it was in the bag when she picked it up for her trip, according to the statement.

Local and state charges are pending against the woman but the jurisdiction wasn't clear Friday night.

"This gun situation illustrates all too graphically the problem of passengers attempting to bring prohibited items through security," Paul D. Wisniewski, TSA Federal Security Director at the airport, said in a statement.

"It is important that before air travelers come to the airport they check the TSA website for prohibited items in carry-on and checked baggages."

Inadvertent packing of firearms is a frequent mistake, he said. He urged all passengers to make sure they know what is in their bags.

Passengers are allowed to transport firearms in checked bags if they are unloaded, in a locked hard-sided case and are properly declared to the airline.

Other prohibited items discovered recently include scissors, knives, box cutters, fireworks and chemical sprays such as Mace and pepper spray.

Passengers must abandon the item or, if permitted, leave it with someone who is not traveling, leave the screening area and place the item in a checked bag, mail it, or take it to their vehicle.

For more information and travel tips, go to www.tsa.gov.

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E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com