Murat Tek of Westbury had handgun in carry-on at LaGuardia Airport, TSA says

A Westbury man who allegedly attempted to bring a loaded handgun through a security checkpoint at LaGuardia Airport on Thursday told authorities he forgot he had the weapon, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Murat Tek, 53, was arrested after TSA officers discovered the 9 mm handgun loaded with eight bullets in a carry-on bag, according to the TSA and Port Authority Police.

Tek faces a felony charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.

Port Authority Police confiscated the gun after an X-ray unit alerted TSA officers to the weapon, according to the TSA.

In addition to the criminal charge, Tek faces a civil penalty of up to $15,000, according to the TSA.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Queens Criminal Court. Attorney information was not yet listed in online court records. 

It was the eighth gun TSA officers detected at airport checkpoints so far this year, the agency said.

“Bringing guns to checkpoints is a serious security violation and this individual can expect to receive a fine that will be in the thousands of dollars,” said Robert Duffy, the agency’s federal security director for the airport, said in a statement.

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms if they are in checked baggage, unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case should be taken to an airline check-in counter to be declared, according to the TSA.

Additional information on traveling with a firearm is available at tsa.gov.