Comment on Hampden man allegedly brought loaded gun into Portland International Jetport

A Hampden man was briefly detained Friday morning at the Portland International Jetport after he allegedly brought a loaded handgun into the airport. The man, who was not identified, had a 9 mm handgun loaded with 12 bullets in his backpack when he attempted to pass through a checkpoint, according to Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration. A TSA officer spotted the gun when the backpack went through the checkpoint’s X-ray machine, and airport police then confiscated the gun and detained the man for questioning, Farbstein said. Farbstein said the man was allowed to call his wife, who then drove to the airport to pick up the handgun and take it home. It was the first firearm caught at the jetport checkpoint this year. In 2019, airport security confiscated three firearms that were caught at the jetport’s checkpoint.