The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) recently pulled a passenger over after discovering the Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle he had been traveling with.
In an initial tweet on Monday, the TSA said its agents at the San Antonio Airport had identified the anti-tank weapon as an undeclared item in the passenger’s checked luggage and did not allow the item through its baggage screening service.
UPDATE: @TSA has confirmed that the passenger declared the item in question to the airline at the check-in counter but TSA was not informed. Out of an abundance of caution, TSA did not allow the item through baggage screening. https://t.co/W7CFK5M7nR
— TSA_SouthWest (@Tsa_SouthWest) January 17, 2023
In an update on Tuesday, the agency confirmed it had cleared up the issue and confirmed that the unnamed passenger had actually declared the item but that TSA agents had stopped it from going through baggage screening out of “an abundance of caution.”
According to KSNV, an NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, the recoilless rifle belonged to a man who was traveling to the Shooting and Hunting Outdoor Trade Show or SHOT Show this week.
The airline passenger was detained after the luggage was discovered and was able to prove to TSA agents that he had declared the weapon was demilitarized and thus could not fire, and that he had properly declared the item before traveling.
Despite proving that he had demilitarized and declared the prop recoilless rifle, the traveler was still not allowed to travel with it. A representative for TSA’s southwest region told The Warzone that the passenger could not fly with his item because “the traveler didn’t allow enough time for TSA to validate the information provided.”
The airline passenger either had to cancel his plans or proceed without his Carl Gustaf rifle.
The 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle is produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden.
Different variants of the weapon are in service with the U.S. military and with various NATO allies. The weapon can fire a variety of different rounds including anti-armor and anti-personnel rounds, such as an air-burst round that’s designed for taking out enemies in cover, reinforced bunkers or buildings.
