Valene Cysewski was in a hurry to get home to Alaska. She slung her suitcase on the conveyor belt and stepped through the security gate. Suddenly, red lights flashed and sirens went off. People began running. It was then that she remembered - she had packed her five-shot revolver in her bag.
This happened at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in March 1999, and to this day she says it was an honest mistake. Still, for that mistake - for breaking the law by trying to take a firearm past the security checkpoint - she spent two nights in the Hennepin County jail.
Such situations are relatively common at the airport, said airport police Cmdr. Gordon Longton. Since 1997, weapons have been detected at security checkpoints at a rate of almost one a week. In a recent case, a Rochester man fled the airport Sept. 14 after two loaded handguns were detected in his carry-on luggage.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires anyone carrying a weapon on a flight to declare it to a ticket agent, who will check the baggage so it isn't carried aboard. A weapon must be properly packaged before it can be checked.
Longton said none of the people who have brought weapons to checkpoints were terrorists. They weren't trying to smuggle aboard their weapons or attempting to hijack a plane. Most were in a hurry, not paying attention to signs, didn't know how to properly declare the weapons or had forgotten they had it, he said.
There's always the possibility of a hijacking, Longton said, but airport police haven't seen any evidence in recent years.
''Sometimes, people want to see how far they can go, but there are no bad intentions,'' he said.
According to police reports, most of the people who brought guns to security checkpoints last year said they were for hunting or protection.
Hans Jorgensen of Cohasset, Mass., was caught with a loaded .22-caliber handgun last December when he walked through a metal detector. He told police he had been walking his dog in the morning and forgot he had the gun in his coat pocket. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. He pleaded guilty and paid $500 in prosecution costs.
When a person is suspected of carrying a weapon, protocol calls for the security guard to ask the person to step aside, and police are notified. Officers look at the X-ray to determine whether it is, indeed, a weapon.
Generally, the person is taken to the airport police station for more questions, and the FAA and FBI usually are contacted.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the agency investigates any incident that may endanger people at the airport. The FAA can sue the weapon carrier, she said, and penalties can be $1,000 or more.
Last year, 42 people brought weapons to checkpoints, and five citations were issued, police records say. Officers responded to 22 calls for handguns, 12 for rifles and shotguns, and one for a flare launcher. Seven others were for such weapons as knives and brass knuckles.
So far this year, police have responded to 20 weapons calls, and five citations have been issued.
Even when weapon carriers follow proper procedures, things can still go wrong. David Ross of Ridgefield, Conn., had properly packed, declared and checked in his shotgun. By the time he picked up his suitcase from Northwest Airlines baggage claim, he was running late for his United Airlines connecting flight. He should have gone to a ticket agent but headed directly to the gate to check his luggage.
At the checkpoint, he said he told the security guard his luggage contained a gun and asked if it was OK to put it on the conveyor belt. The guard was distracted and told him to put his bag on the belt. He did. The gun was detected on the X-ray, police were called, and he missed his flight, according to police reports.
FAA agent Andria Simpson questioned Ross and found that no regulations had been violated. He was booked on another flight.
Only authorized personnel can carry guns beyond checkpoints. Cysewski, of Fairbanks, Alaska, knew that. But when she walked into the airport after driving from Peoria, Ill., and saw the Northwest check-in line that extended to the door, she decided to check in at the gate.
''I made a lot of people upset,'' she said. ''People were literally yelling at me with hostility like I was some horrible person.''
She forfeited her revolver and was charged with carrying a gun without a permit. She accepted a plea agreement under which she would not return to Minnesota with a gun. After a year, the case was dropped.
''It wasn't that I was trying to pull anything,'' she said. ''I understand the law, and it's a good law. I just forgot.''
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
