News

Yet another loaded gun confiscated at National Airport security checkpoint

By ARLnow.com
Gun confiscated at DCA (courtesy TSA)

National Airport is on track for a banner year for gun confiscations.

A Maryland man was the latest to try to take a loaded handgun through the security checkpoint at DCA. With that Tuesday incident, Transportation Security Administration officers have now confiscated 23 guns so far in 2023.

At this rate, DCA would close out the year with 34-35 guns caught at checkpoints, up from 29 last year and 14 in 2019.

Guns confiscated at DCA so far this year (courtesy TSA)

“It is disappointing to continue to see travelers carrying their loaded guns to our security checkpoints,” John Busch, TSA’s Federal Security Director at DCA, said in a statement. “I’m grateful that our officers here and nationwide remain vigilant every single day.”

The full TSA press release is below.

A Bowie, Md., man was cited by police after he was stopped by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers with a loaded handgun at one of the checkpoints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 29. The 9mm handgun was loaded with 12 bullets and was packed in the man’s carry-on bag next to another gun magazine, also loaded with 12 bullets.

The gun was caught as the man entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit alerted the TSA officer to check the carry-on bag, which was opened by police for a closer inspection. Police confiscated the gun and cited the man on state charges.

Guns are not permitted through the security checkpoint and now the man faces a stiff financial civil penalty from TSA. The penalty for carrying weapons can reach a maximum of $15,000.

“It is disappointing to continue to see travelers carrying their loaded guns to our security checkpoints,” said John Busch, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “I’m grateful that our officers here and nationwide remain vigilant every single day. Firearms should never be brought to the security checkpoint in carry-on luggage and travelers should certainly be aware of that rule, which has been in place for decades before TSA even existed.”

Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and gun owners have a duty to ensure they are not violating any local firearm laws. Additionally, contacting the respective airline could reveal any additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.

Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a gun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances. This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because a concealed carry permit does not allow a firearm to be carried onto an airplane. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent of those guns were loaded. So far this year more than 4,000 handguns have been stopped at security checkpoints by TSA officers.

Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? Download the free myTSA app, which has a handy “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly. Or ask on Twitter or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA. Travelers may send a question by texting “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872).

Passengers are only permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage. Firearms must be unloaded then packed in a hard-sided locked case. The locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.

Around Town

How an Arlington Mill condo association plans to transform itself — on a budget

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Residents of an aging condo complex near Columbia Pike are embarking on a novel project to upgrade their living situations while dodging staggering condo fees.

Members of the Arlington Heights Condominiums, located on 8th Road S. in the Arlington Mill neighborhood, plan to get the property redeveloped while ensuring every resident who wants to stay can.

First, a developer will build a new 6-story building on the property, into which all 111 existing condo residents can move. Then the existing units will be razed for new housing, which could include apartments for seniors.

“We’re really taking this thing into our own hands,” says Andrew Pitts, the president of the condo association. “If we figure this out and we’re successful, other condos in Arlington that are struggling with these same issues will have a roadmap.”

Arlington Heights is a garden-style complex in South Arlington built during the post-World War II housing boom. It has a diverse population, including about a quarter who are immigrants and some who do not speak English proficiently.

It has seen better days, however. Resident Kenneth Trotter says circuit breakers frequently blow and buildings need upgrades to roofing, windows, plumbing, and electrical systems.

“Implementing these upgrades would incur substantial expenses and lead to high assessments for the member,” he said.

A soup-to-nuts rehabilitation could cost $15 million, or roughly $150,000 per resident in condo fees, Pitts said. This would price out a number of owners, himself included, over the next decade.

Those who sell would likely neither profit from the sale nor pocket enough to buy elsewhere in Arlington. Homes in the complex already have higher condo fees and sell for less than other nearby, newer units, according to a financial analysis prepared for residents.

So the association hired a developer, architect, contractor and land-use attorneys, and partnered with a bank, to wade through muddy legal waters and find a solution.

One year later, the team came up with the phased plan to build a new complex, move residents in and redevelop the rest of the property. Pitts says condo owners could spend $78,000 on condo fees and end up with new homes, a shared clubhouse and other amenities, compared to $150,000 just for rehabbed units.

Realtor Eli Tucker, who analyzed the proposal for residents — and whose firm, Eli Residential Group, advertises with ARLnow — says he is impressed by the “win-win-win structure” of the deal.

“The existing homeowners are delivered a tremendous housing upgrade and increase in property value without being displaced from their community,” he said. “The development team has the land and flexibility to deliver a community of properties that fits the demands of a wide range of owners and renters.”

(more…)

Sponsored

Halls Hill native recalls making history with Civil Rights-era lawsuit over voting in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey

As a 23-year-old voter in still-segregated 1960s Virginia, Portia Haskins was convinced she had followed all the rules in order to cast a ballot in Arlington.

Election officials disagreed, saying she had failed to pay the appropriate poll tax still required in the Old Dominion, maintained in part to disenfranchise Black voters.

Haskins took the county, and state, to court. She won, with her case ultimately being folded into the landmark 1966 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Haskins was an unusual legal combatant, committed to seeking unity.

“I’m the type of person who wants to bring everyone together,” the Halls Hill native said at a weekend presentation sponsored by the county library system and hosted by the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

After her efforts to vote were rejected at the local level, Haskins enlisted support from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to challenge the ruling. She traveled several times to the U.S. District Court in Richmond, then watched as the case and others like it moved to the Supreme Court.

Her reaction at the final outcome? “I was so happy,” she said.

The 6-3 ruling in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections effectively outlawed requiring poll taxes for state elections in those few states, like Virginia, that retained them. The poll-tax requirement for federal elections had been eliminated with ratification of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964.

Lessons from the struggle are still valuable today, said Haskins, now 83.

“Everybody has to come together and fight” when they see injustice, she said. “You have to get together.”

Historical photo of Portia Haskins (via Black Heritage Museum of Arlington)

Haskins is among the Arlingtonians profiled in the “From Barriers to Ballots,” an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Several versions of the exhibition are on display across Northern Virginia, with one at Central Library running through Nov. 4.

The Arlington Historical Society partnered on the exhibition, and was excited about the Haskins presentation, former president David Pearson said.

“She is someone we really wanted to learn about,” he said, pointing to a renewed effort to “really get out the stories of the complete history of Arlington.”

Haskins has been a member of Mount Salvation Baptist Church near the Glebewood neighborhood since 1951, and in the community she has promoted “the spirit of community and empowerment,” said Scott Taylor, president of the Black Heritage Museum.

Haskins lamented that much of the history of the civil-rights movement is being lost in the public consciousness.

“We went through a lot, but people today don’t know,” she said. Young people in particular, she said, “don’t care because they don’t know.”

Her request to today’s youth? “Let everybody know how you feel” and use the ballot box to create change.

“Voting is important. That’s what everybody really needs to do,” Haskins said.

News

Fairfax shooting suspect arrested by Arlington SWAT team

By ARLnow.com
Three people were shot outside Taco Baja in Merrifield on Aug. 26 (via Google Maps)

A man suspected of shooting two people outside of a taco restaurant in Merrifield was arrested in Arlington.

Arlington’s SWAT team arrested the 25-year-old man Sunday night at an address a block away from Wakefield High School.

“The suspect was taken into custody without incident by members of the Arlington County SWAT team in the 5000 block of S. Chesterfield Road on the evening of August 27,” and Arlington County police spokesperson tells ARLnow.

The arrest follows a shooting outside of a restaurant located along Route 29 just inside the Beltway.

More from our sister site FFXnow:

A man from Falls Church has been arrested for allegedly firing a gun into a crowd outside Taco Baja (7716 Lee Highway) in Merrifield.

Police say their investigation indicates that Jorge Armando Melendez Gonzalez, 25, approached a group of men standing outside the restaurant early in the morning on Saturday (Aug. 26).

“During the encounter, the suspect was assaulted by one of the men and the suspect opened fire into a crowd of people who were standing in front of the business,” the Fairfax County Police Department said. “The suspect then fled the area on foot.”

Police were called to 7716 Lee Highway at 1:51 a.m. for the reported shooting, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

Upon arriving, officers found two adult men in the parking lot with gunshot wounds. One of the men had been shot in the arm, while the other was shot in the abdomen, the FCPD says. Both men were taken to a hospital, one of them with injuries that police initially said were life-threatening.

Police identified a third victim when Inova Fairfax Hospital called 911 at 3:39 a.m. to report that a man had walked in with a gunshot wound to the arm, according to FCPD and the police scanner.

“Officers were able to determine the victim was related to the earlier shooting,” the FCPD said. “The victim’s injuries were considered non-life threatening and he was treated and released from the hospital.”

“Jorge Armando Melendez Gonzalez has been charged with three counts of Felony Malicious Wounding and three counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony,” Fairfax County police said in a press release. “He is being held at the Adult Detention Center on no bond.”

“Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the shooting,” the press release adds. “Anyone who may have information about this shooting is asked to call 703-246-7800, option 5.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Departure board at Reagan National Airport (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

More on Fallen Arlington Marine — “Life for the Collart family had already been hard these past three years before they learned of the crash off the Australian coast on Sunday that took the lives of Cpl. Spencer R. Collart and two of his fellow U.S. Marines. In March 2020, just when the coronavirus pandemic was settling in, the family’s Northern Virginia home burned down, leaving little more than embers.” [Washington Post, WJLA]

Arlington Pickleball Controversy on NPR — “Arlington County is one of the many communities caught up in the pickleball craze. That’s not without its problems. Denizens are fighting over sound ordinances and the use of public parks.” [1A]

Marymount Enrollment Growth — “Marymount University’s academic year opened with the highest number of first-year students in seven years, representing a 20-percent increase from a year ago… The institution set record undergraduate numbers for inquiries received (12,752), campus visits from prospective students (1,146) and submitted applications (3,610) ahead of the fall semester.” [Gazette Leader]

Video of Confused I-395 Driver — From Dave Statter: “When @VaDOTNOVA blocks off your I-395 exit do you: a. drive through the traffic cones? b. drive very slowly in the left lane of an interstate highway? c. stop the car in the left lane of an interstate highway for more than 2 minutes? d. do all of the above?” [Twitter]

Va. Drivers Don’t Play — “A new national study by Forbes Advisor ranks Virginia No. 4 for having the most confrontational drivers — West Virginia’s drivers rank even worse at No. 3. Maryland comes in at No. 19. The District of Columbia wasn’t included in the study. Of those polled, more than half in Virginia said they’ve been involved in an incident where the other driver got out of their vehicle to yell at or fight them. Ninety percent have had another driver curse at them, insult them, or make threats.” [WTOP]

Back to School Rally in Green Valley — “The Green Valley Civic Association got the new school year off on the right foot with a Back to School Rally. The event, held Aug. 26 at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School, provided 130 participating students with backpacks two days before the opening of Arlington Public Schools’ 2023-24 school year.” [Gazette Leader]

Tito’s Still ABC’s Most Popular — “Tito’s Handmade Vodka is once again the top spirit of choice among customers at Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) stores, garnering $72 million in sales in fiscal year 2023. Tito’s was followed by Hennessy VS cognac ($44M), Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey ($30.1M), Patron Silver tequila ($28.6M) and Jim Beam straight bourbon whiskey ($24M).” [Press Release]

It’s Thursday — A cloudy day to start, gradually clearing to become mostly sunny with a high near 78 degrees. Along with a northeast wind blowing at 11 to 14 mph and gusts as high as 23 mph during the day, the night will be mostly clear with a low around 60 degrees and a north wind at 7 to 9 mph. [Weather.gov]

Announcement

Rent vs. Buy Virtual Happy Hour

By Century 21 Redwood

Have you found your quarantine oasis? Are you tired of paying down someone else’s mortgage? Please join us for a Rent vs. Buy Happy Hour on Thursday, April 29 at 6 p.m. via zoom (link to be provided upon RSVP).

A lot has happened in the local market since the beginning of the pandemic. Sip on your drink of choice and learn from Northern Virginia and Washingtonian Magazine top producing agents on how you can get $1,500 towards your closing costs immediately! We will discuss the latest market updates, the home buying process and rent vs. buy cost savings. Please RSVP by clicking on the link by April 28. Call/text Manavi at 703-869-6698 with any questions!

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