Orlando tops all other Florida airports in weapons seizures
Skift Take
With the spike in U.S. gun ownership comes more and more "forgotten" weapons at one of the few places where people can guarantee they're going to be searched for weapons.
TSA officers have stopped more armed passengers trying to board flights at Orlando International Airport than at any other Florida airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The last attempt was Sunday morning, when a St. Augustine traveler carrying a loaded .22-caliber pistol was arrested when he passed a carry-on bag through an X-ray scanner, records show.
"It's mine," 66-year-old Ronald Eitel told a TSA agent. "I'm sorry, I forgot it was in there."
That kind of apology is routine.
Eitel was the 19th person at OIA arrested this year or issued an at-large charging affidavit for "carrying a firearm in a place prohibited by law," records show.
What many admit, including the last five nabbed at OIA, is that they are among the 1 million-plus Floridians with valid state carry-concealed-weapon permits -- a number that has doubled in the past five yea
