2 Guns Get Past La. Airport Security
NEW ORLEANS — A man carried two loaded handguns through a security checkpoint at Louis Armstrong International Airport on Monday but was arrested after a random check before he boarded a flight to Los Angeles.
FBI special agent Julian Gonzales said the semiautomatic handguns were found in the man’s backpack at a Continental Airlines gate.
The man, Carlos Stephens, 30, said he worked for No Limit Records and told investigators he needed the guns in his work, according to acting U.S. Atty. Jim Letten.
Roy Maughan Jr., a lawyer for No Limit, said Stephens is not employed by the company but is an independent producer who has worked with the firm.
Stephens was charged with attempting to carry weapons aboard an aircraft.
Stephens carried the guns through an X-ray security checkpoint run by St. Louis-based Huntleigh USA Corp., airport officials said. A call to Huntleigh was not immediately returned.
“I consider this a massive failure. Whoever is responsible is messing up terribly,” Letten said.
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